


Scratch and Sniff Champagne

by LongestWordintheDictionary



Category: Gamegrumps - Fandom, jacksepticeye, markiplier - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Lots of Cliches, Reader Insert, Smut, eventual domesticity, oodles of fluff, youtuber reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-29
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2018-05-29 19:46:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 48,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6390772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LongestWordintheDictionary/pseuds/LongestWordintheDictionary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Come on bud, you're a total catch,"</p><p>"Of course I'm a catch, I mean, look at me!" </p><p>"If you're so confident, why don't you go talk to one of those lovely girls over there?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Red Wine Stains

**Author's Note:**

> Abbreviations Used:
> 
> (Y/N) - Your Name
> 
> (Y/T/N) - Your YouTube Username (If you don't have one, make something fun up)

"Come on bud, you're a total catch," A sympathetic Bob attempted to voice over the roaring chatter of the VidCon party.

"Of course I'm a catch, I mean, look at me!" Mark exclaimed, popping his collar for effect. Though he wouldn't ever admit it, he had been feeling a bit lonely lately. Chica was adopted partially as a product of this loneliness, and while she was a great companion, her kisses were slobbery and her conversation skills lacking. 

"If you're so confident, why don't you go talk to one of those lovely girls over there?" Sean snickered.

"I don't want or need a girlfriend.” Mark huffed, and in an attempt to distract them bellowed “Now who's up for some overpriced hors d'oeuvres?"

"Not so fast there Marko," Wade scooped a pair of champagne glasses up off of a passing tray and handed them to Mark. "You're a grown man who I dare say is afraid to flirt."

"Please, I'm the king of classy pickup lines." Mark humphed, and with his pride on the line, waltzed off. 

You, were storming across the room with a worried Suzy Berhow on your heels. He, was nervously maneuvering the floor, trying to find his words. Only in a movie would the following cliche occur. A trip, a gasp, a shriek, then silence. Two glasses of champagne, plus your own filled with red wine, splattered on your white dress. A hush fell upon the room as they all glanced your way.

"Oh my, I am so so sorry, here, let me help," He stuttered, grabbing a towel from a waiter. You watched in shock as the man dabbed at the stain on your top.

"No, no no it's fine really," You growled swatting away his hands and attempting to dry it yourself.

"Here, let me get you another glass of wine," He murmured, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. By now, most of the crowd had moved on, Suzy had caught up to you, and Mark's friends had come to snicker.

"No, no, I need to head back to my hotel and clean this up," You gestured to your dress and forced a smile.

"Right, again, I'm so sorry," He murmured, and scratched the nape of his neck.

“Hey Mark!" Suzy beamed before taking you by the arm and pulling you away.

“That was so smooth I think I missed the part where you pick up a girl,” Wade teased. 

“I’m pretty sure that was (Y/T/N) that you just pissed off. Great job there buddy.” Bob added.

“Come on big guy, you’ve had a rough day, let’s call it quits.” Sean cooed playfully and patted him on the back. What a night.

***

The next day, you found yourself in the same crabby mood. You had failed to remove the stains from your dress, the breakfast you had ordered had come cold, and despite your general meh feelings towards alcohol, you were a bit more hungover than expected. To top it all off, you were still at the con, and even though you had barely made it out of bed this morning, you had a panel and 2 signings to host. Fuck.

After splashing your face with icy water and applying enough makeup to hide the lifelessness of your current state, you were out the door.

“Hold the elevator!” You heard a shout and a well built man came running in. Immediately after eye contact was established, the man fell into a small scale panic.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry about last night! It was an honest mistake and,” He began spewing those and an array of other apologies.

“Hold on. Slow down there pal. What are you going on about?” You mumbled, honestly confused why this man, who you assumed to be Markiplier based on the voice and face, was freaking out.

“You don’t remember? I spilled champagne on your dress last night.”

“So you were the asshole that I drunkenly scorned last night.”

“Ouch,” He feigned hurt, “But fair enough.” The elevator door glided open and the two of you exited.

“By the way, I’m Mark, or Markiplier if you keep up with the other youtube gamers.”

“I’ve already gathered that much, I’m (Y/N) or (Y/T/N) if /you/ keep up with other youtube gamers.”

“I too have already figured out your name, so I suppose that makes out introductions meaningless.”

“I suppose so,” You manage a smile. While you were still a bit ticked with him, you weren’t one to go picking fights with fellow Youtubers, especially not ones with a channel roughly the same size as yours. It appeared he was thinking the same thing as he stopped to ask,

“In the interest of gaining friends rather than enemies, I’d like to invite you to the little ‘pizza party’ that myself and a few others from the gaming community are having tonight as a post con relaxer.”

You paused to think, “Maybe? Right now I’m not even sure that I’ll have enough energy to make it through the con today, but if I can get my hands on an energy drink I’m in.”

“I’ll pick up a few when I get the pizza. We’re all supposed to meet here in the lobby at 7. Enjoy your panels today and I'll see you tonight.” At that, he sent you a smile and you parted ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely hope you enjoyed this! This is my first work being posted to the site so a comment would make my day. This series is based loosely off of a dream (which only gets you so far) So if you have anything that you would like to see in the upcoming chapters, let me know.  
> Thank's a Million,  
> Xx Ace


	2. Pizza Pressure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang enjoy a few boxes of pizza and each others company, but when Bob notices Mark and (Y/N)'s hug lingering a tad too long, he can't help but point it out.

Sign. Smile. Chug some water. Crack jokes. Give hugs. Stuff your face with a sandwich. This was the life of a con creator. 

You had barely made it through the day, and while your hangover was long gone, your energy levels were falling fast. Right now, your only want in the world was to crash in your hotel room and...

"(Y/N)! So glad you could make it," 

Glancing over, you were greeted by the smiling faces of Mark, 2 of the grumps, that loud Irish man... Was it, Jake? And two men whom you didn't recognize at all. 

"Oh, oh hey, that's right, pizza party." You mumbled, resentfully trudging towards them.

"Rough day?" A cheerful Suzy questioned, wrapping her arm around your shoulder. Seeing no way out of this situation, you were at the very least thankful that Suzy and Arin were here. You hadn't really taken the time to reach out to other creators in the community, but you had connected with Suzy near the beginning of your career due to your similar interests.

"Rough doesn't begin to cover it," You sighed, mustering a smile as the rest of the group approached.

"(Y/N), this is Bob, Wade, and Sean." Mark began the introductions as they nodded respectively at their own name. "I assume you already know Suzy and Arin. Now I've got 5 pizzas and a case of energy drinks here, so let's roll." Mark beamed, patting you on the back and heading towards the elevator.

"Who's room are we crashing in?" Bob questioned.

"Suz and I brought a few board games," Arin chimed as a suggestion to head for his room. The group agreed and piled into the elevator. 

"So (Y/N), how did Mark manage to sway you into not hating him?" Sean questioned as you exited the elevator.

"The promise of food does wonders." You smiled, your stomach reminding you of your hunger as the scent of pizza wafted through this the halls. When you reached the room, Arin unlocked the door and everyone went to town distributing the pizza and claiming seats around the small coffee table. 

"Cards against humanity anyone?" Suzy grinned pulling it from her bag.

Time flew by and 3 hours later, Arin, Suzy, and Wade had passed out, and the rest of you were preparing to leave. 

"Hey, thanks for coming (Y/N)," Mark sent you a genuine smile. "I gave you my Skype right?"

"That you did sir,"

"Great, I'll have to take advantage of this new found friendship and hit you up for a recording sesh or two."

"Sesh?"

"Yeah, as in session."

"No no, I know what it means, I just wanted to confirm that you did indeed just say sesh." You snickered

"My apologies, but not all of us have time for extra syllables." He retorted playfully.

"Fair enough." 

Several beats of silence followed as the two of you contemplated the proper goodbye. A handshake? A hug? A simple hand wave? You began to extend your hand as he opened his arms for a hug.

"Whoops," You laughed sheepishly and went to meet his hug, except, he had already switched to meet your previous handshake. You went through these motions two more times before he made the decision and pulled you in for a hug. He was warm, his arms firm as they wrapped around you. Nose pressed against his shoulder, you were overwhelmed by the scent of a sweet crackling fire and crisp champagne bubbles. The hug lingered a bit longer than it should have and when you pulled away, his sheepish grin was contagious.

"See ya around Mark," You smiled and slowly turned away.

"See ya." He whispered as you walked off. A cough from behind him caused Mark to swivel around.

"Watch and learn as the Wild Markiplier falls head over heels for another girl he doesn’t stand a chance with because he’s too afraid to open up to her.” Bob narrated sympathetically.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mark mumbled beginning to gather his things from the room.

“The last time you had an official girlfriend was 2 years ago and she broke it off with you because you were too afraid to tell her you loved her.”

“Yeah, that’s not exactly the sort of thing I care to dwell on,” Mark sighed “And I dont like (Y/N) like that. We just met yesterday, to develop any feelings that quickly would be ridiculous.”

“Don't like her huh? Its a shame your face is betraying you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen your cheeks this red pal.”

Mark remained silent as he picked his coat up from the floor and headed for the door.

“Mark wait, I’m not trying to make you feel bad, just trying to point out how dumb you’re being.”

“Oh, Oh I see. I’m being dumb by not pursuing a girl who lives God knows where and of whom I have known just shy of 48 hours.”

“48 hours is more than enough time to get a good read on someone. As cheesy as it sounds, I knew almost immediately that Mandy was going to be my world.”

“And on the topic of location, (Y/N) lives in LA. She and Suzy hang out all the time.” A half asleep Arin chimed in.

“Oh.” Mark ran his fingers through his hair, trying to decide what to do with this information. Padding across the room, Sean clapped a hand on Mark’s shoulder and gave it a shake.

“It seems you’re out of excuses there bud.” He laughed. “I’ll see ya later guys.” Sean beamed, leaving for his own hotel room.

“Alright. You know what. Just to get you guys off my case, I’m gonna Skype her this weekend and ask if she wants to meet up somewhere. Yeah… Thats what I’m gonna do.”

“Good for you buddy.” Bob smiled standing to offer Mark an encouraging back pat.

“Thanks….thanks” Mark said aloud, then mumbled to himself. Turning to head out the door, Mark waved a goodbye and retired to his hotel room to contemplate the nights events.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your kind comments! I'm gonna try and keep this story updated as often as possible, so stay tuned for more.  
> Xx Ace


	3. #BananaPancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A casual Skype conversation and the promise of a collab. Pure fluff.

You'd had your fun. 3 days of chatting with fans, hanging with friends, and attending a handful of creator parties. It had been a much needed weekend off, but now it was back to your regular schedule. With 10,000,000 subscribers in your pocket, slacking off was not an option. Today was reserved for nothing but content. Download a game, record, edit, upload privately for later publication. You’d been at this for several hours now, and were midway through your current recording session, when that oh so familiar Skype notification rang through your headphones. It appeared you’d forgotten to close Skype. Jotting down a memo to edit that bit out later, you finished up the video and went to check the notification.

*Contact Request from CaptainBorf*  
Message: Hey there (Y/N). Mark (iplier) here. 

Tentatively, you accepted the friend request and sent him a message.

GenericRose: CaptainBorf? I assume CaptainDork was taken then? 

You had the intentions of returning to your business when a message popped up on the screen.

CaptainBorf: No no, that was my old account but the fangirls found me. 

GenericRose: Thoroughly japed by the almighty fangirl.

CaptainBorf: Pah-lease. The almighty Markiplier is never japed. 

GenericRose: Oh I’m sure. Anyway, is there something I can do for you? Otherwise I have some editing to return to. You know how it is. 

CaptainBorf: Right sorry, I’ll keep this brief. I just wanted to see if you were up for a recording session together at some point in the near future. 

GenericRose: Anxious to film with the almighty (Y/T/N) are we?

CaptainBorf: Get your own adjective. I’m the almighty one here. And yes, I considered implementing the standard wait period before messaging someone you met and immediately spilled champagne on, but I couldn’t seem to remember the protocol. 

GenericRose: Fair enough. I can’t seem to remember the protocol for klutzing up a first encounter either, so you’re off the hook for now. What would you propose we record together?”

CaptainBorf: Dunno. My channel has been lacking in the overdone youtube challenges department as of late, would you want to meet up for a session of the whisper challenge?

GenericRose: Hmm. I dont know. How do I know you’re not secretly a dangerous criminal who lures unsuspecting youtubers to his home with the prospects of a collab, only to bury them alive, effectively weeding out the competition

CaptainBorf: Thats quite the imagination you’ve got there

GenericRose: Its my best feature 

CaptainBorf: I can assure you I don’t have a death dungeon beneath my house, but to ease your wandering mind, we could meet up in the Grump Space. I’m actually supposed to be heading over this coming Friday to film some a few episodes of Grumpcade, I’m sure they would be fine with us recording there too. 

GenericRose: Friday it shall be. I can double check with Suzy.

CaptainBorf: I look forward to it

GenericRose: Same

After clearing up the details with Suzy, you returned to your regularly scheduled day, unaware of how much your smile had brightened since the few minutes that you were talking with him.

***

The week passed too slowly for Mark. He had watched more of your videos than he would care to admit, and had fallen into a fangirl like state. Because of this, he couldn’t concentrate on anything. Sure, he could distract himself for an hour or so, but soon enough, your charming eyes and quirky smile would draw him right back into his daydreams. Of course his absentmindedness caused his content to suffer, and prompted both his friends and more dedicated fans to notice. The fans were nothing but concerned, writing frantic paragraphs on Tumblr about how distant he seemed, and wondering if he was sick or for the more intense fans, depressed. His friends however, knew what was up, no matter how many times Mark claimed that you weren’t the cause. Behind the scenes, he never heard the end of it, little jokes about how hard he had fallen and what stupid pick up line he was going to mumble to you upon meeting up that Friday. 

Finally, the day came. Through the entire grumpcade recording session, Mark had been a sweaty, antsy, mess. Never before had he been so thankful for the Grump’s lack of face cam. Danny, Arin, and Ross were of course thoroughly amused by how deep Mark had fallen into the rabbit hole and couldn’t help but take this piss out of him for his constant fidgeting. When the recording session came to a close, and the last sign off was made, Mark attempted to release all of his tension with a massive stretch as the four gamers exited the recording room.

“Shit dude, you really are nervous,” Dan snickered gesturing to the sweat stains on Mark’s shirt.

“Shit! No no.” He panicked. 

“It’s okay man, I’ve got you covered,” Arin laughed heading over to one of the cabinets and pulling a spare shirt from it.

“You’re a life saver.” Mark grinned removing his own shirt and taking the new one from Arin.

“Woah woah, some advanced notice would be great before starting up your strip show,” You said, pretending to shield your eyes as you entered the Grumpspace

“ (Y/N)!” Danny beamed rushing over to wrap you in a quick hug.

“Danno,” You sputtered trying to rid your mouth of the chunk of jewfro that had invaded it. You were incredibly grateful to be filming in the Grumpspace today. Mark seemed like a genuinely nice guy, but even so, being among friends made things much less awkward for you.

“Sorry there (Y/N), Ill put the guns back in the safe.” Mark apologized with a smirk.

“I see we’re using the term guns loosely nowadays?” You quipped, wiping that shit eating grin right off of his face.

“Thata girl (Y/N), if we don’t occasionally knock him down a few pegs, his ego is liable to become its own entity.” Ross chimed in as he headed for the fridge.

Mark chose to ignore Ross’ comment, instead setting up his own camera in front of the sofa. “So, we for sure want to do the whisper challenge?” He questioned

“Fine by me, who else is playing?” You gestured to the three grumps going about their business.

“Ross said something about steam train, so I assume Danny and Arin.” Mark replied with a beaming smile. Quickly adjusting his glasses, Mark pulled his phone from his pocket and took to Twitter.

“Would you be up for keeping the collab a secret until its posted?” Mark asked, looking up briefly from his phone to admire the way the light was hitting your eyes.

“Mmm hmm” You mumbled snapping him from his momentary trance and sending him back into tweet mode. “How’s this?” He questioned showing you the tweet. It read,

‘Filming a whisper challenge with the grumps and a MYSTERY GUEST! Tweet us suggestions with #BananaPancakes’

“I too enjoy a good banana pancake” You laughed, approving his tweet. Now, there was nothing to do but sit back and wait for the tweets to roll in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hercules by Fly Away Hero was looping as I wrote this. Something tells me Im gonna wear this one out for myself.
> 
> I sincerely hope you enjoyed this chapter! Hopefully this is a good enough pace for you. I know incredibly slow builds agitate me to no end. If you did enjoy, every kudos and comment makes my day a little bit brighter. (so you should 100% leave one or the other, even if you just want to discuss the majestic sound provided by the G# in Hercules or how incredibly fluffy Mark's hair looks right now) 
> 
> Have a wonderful day!  
> Xx Ace


	4. The Whisper Challenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluffy recording fun and a rather devious Mark who more or less intends to sweep you off of your feet... eventually.

It didn’t take long at all for the suggestions to begin rolling in. For the following 15 minutes, the four of you took to your phones and screenshotted your favorite suggestions. You personally were quite happy with yours, and by the grin on the guy’s faces, they appeared to be pretty excited as well. 

“All set?” Mark questioned as he sat up straight in preparation for the shoot. He was met by a collective nod and the grumps took their seats behind the couch. You however, as the others had suggested, remained just out of the camera’s view. One last check was made and Mark switched on the camera.

“Hello everybody, my name is Markiplier and welcome to the whisper challenge. I’m here with Arin, Danny and…hmm,” Mark paused to look around.

“Hey Mark,” Dan prompted in the most over the top voice he could manage, “I thought we needed 4 players for the whisper challenge.”

Grin spreading across your face, you popped into frame. “Hello everybody, my name is (Y/N) and welcome to the most requested collab ever.” You beamed, taking a seat beside Mark on the couch. A chorus of oohs and ahs followed as the Grumps pointed and gawked dramatically.

“You guys have been asking me to film with (Y/N) for well over a year so, here we are. Have I sufficiently pleased you?”

"Geez assholes, we're here too." Arin grumbled playfully.

From there, the video went downhill, but, in the good sort of way. As expected, most of the phrases were somehow twisted into a dick joke, leaving the four of you a hysterical mess.

“I like to start my mornings with a nice bowl of serial killers.” You whispered, smiling as Arin’s face contorted into confusion. Never the less, he passed it on to Dan, who then passed it on to a thoroughly amused Mark.

“I like to stab my bored kinks with an ice cold surreal dick hurt?” He spluttered, looking to you for confirmation.

“How do you always bring it back to dicks?” Danny bellowed, tears threatening to roll down his cheeks.

“Is someone over compensating for something?” Arin questioned, out of breath from laughter.

“Wha?” Mark shrieked folding his hands over his heart, “I never, there is a lady among us.” He finished, feigning exasperation.

“Avoidance of the truth? I think you may have found a weak spot Arin.” You laughed patting Mark on the back.

“There there shrimp dick, this is a safe space.” Dan murmured, dropping his voice down to fake sympathy.

When the recoding was completed, you were quite glad that you had agreed to it. Mark was a pretty down to earth guy once you got past the dick jokes and exuberant personality. 

“I dunno about you guys, but reading lips makes me hungry, anyone up for some food?” Mark prompted now that you were all happily relaxed into the couches. The suggestion of lunch made you realize just how hungry you actually were. 

"I could eat," You smiled as you tucked your legs up against your chest.

"Sounds good," Arin chimed in. Mark pulled up Yelp on his phone and passed it to you.

"I'll give you the honors of picking where we go," he smiled as you began scrolling through the suggestions. The moment you were distracted, Mark shot a meaningful glare to the others. Dan snickered and nodded, message received.

"Actually, I think we have few more recordings to finish, don't we." Dan grinned, nudging Arin with his elbow and rising to his feet.

"Aww, yep that's right," Arin chimed in, "Sorry, I guess it'll just be you two."

"You still want to go (Y/N)?" Mark questioned hopefully.

"Sure, how does this place sound?" You handed the phone over, pointing at the mom n' pop diner that had caught your interest. 

"I see milkshakes. Anyplace that serves shakes can't be too terrible," He grinned standing up. Walking out to the parking lot, he pulled out his keys and headed to his car. "You wanna ride together? Save gas?" He questioned, opening the passenger side door. You nodded your head in thanks and climbed in. Shutting the door behind you, he went around and hopped into the drivers seat. It was a blustery day, and the wind had caused Mark's fiery red hair to whip around into a mess of fluff a top his head. He turned to face you and a smirk spread across his face. 

"You may want to give your hair a once over in the mirror," He grinned

"I was about to say the same to you," You quipped, reaching out to smooth down his hair. A warm red tinted his cheeks as you pulled your hand away.

"Thanks," He smiled, fidgeting in his seat.

"Don't mention it,"

***

Soon, the two of you were on the road, over the top pop music blaring through the speakers. In the last 10 minutes, you had discovered that A. Mark had an odd affinity for Taylor Swift, and B. He was absolutely and almost adorably, unashamed. You couldn't help but laugh every time he went for one of her high notes, or played air guitar at a stop light. It hadn't taken long for him to convince you to join in, and by the time you had pulled up to the restaurant, both of you were out of breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long, this week was tech week for my Theatre and then we had the shows so... Sorry. 
> 
> I want to do longer chapters in the future, so if that's something you'd like to see, lemme know.  
> Thanks  
> \- Ace


	5. Hazy Brown Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two of you go out for lunch, but is it just a casual hang out, or is Mark capable of sweeping you off of your feet? Maybe not Mark, but a certain pupper may just be able to.

Lunch had been amazing. Conversation flowed effortlessly and the food had been delicious. It was odd how fond you had grown of him so quickly. Hours passed by without either of you noticing. In fact, you very well could have stayed and talked all day had the staff not politely requested that you make room for more customers.

"Thank's for lunch, you really didn't have to pay," You grinned at the parking lot asphalt before meeting his warm gaze. 

"Pleasure was all mine. I do however feel as though I should get something as compensation." He smiled, tapping his finger to his chin thoughtfully. "How about... Your phone number? Strictly for business calls of course," 

You cocked your head to the side and twisted your face into a quizzical expression. "I dunno, I still haven't completely ruled out the idea of you being a homicidal maniac." You teased, never the less, extending your hand for him to give you his phone. Quickly, you tapped your number into the contact page and took a messy selfie for the photo.  
"There you are," You smiled returning his phone. You weren't prepared for his hand to linger as he accepted the phone, or for your breath to hitch at the realization of how soft his fingertips were. Lifting your gaze to meet his, you could see a haze clouding over his deep brown eyes. He was stuck in the same confused trance as you were. As if an invisible force was trying to push the two of you closer.

"Would you... Absolutely hate me if I were to kiss you right now?" He murmured. Your voice caught in your throat when you tried to respond, but that didn't seem to matter, your body was doing the talking for you. Your breathing had lightened, your eyelids had drooped closed, and you without realizing had moved closer to him. Seconds of silence, of the world spinning, of your reason scolding you to stop, to not fall into the impression that his smokey eyes and velveteen voice had made in the back of your head. And then, all reason was forgotten. Cautious lips connected, briefly feeling each other out, trying to determine if this was okay. Steady smiles of reassurance and a thankful giggle. In the end, when the contact was broken, both people felt suddenly as if a piece of them was missing. You could see the light in his eyes, he had felt the same magic as you had. As cliche as it was to refer to a kiss as magic, there really were only a few ways to describe something so bizarrely beautiful.

"You're not bad at that," He mumbled, trying to steady his breath and slow his excited heart. The kiss had been short, only a few seconds, but it had been enough to drive each other crazy with emotions that for him had been suppressed for weeks and for you, had never been brought to light until today. 

"I could say the same for you," You smiled, trying to find the brain space to process the previous events.

"Should we head back to the grump space... So that you can get your car?" He shuffled his feet, heart swollen with something similar to that overwhelming adoration he felt when cuddling with Chica. Chica. Shit. He had been so busy today, he had forgotten to let her out. She was mostly potty trained, but like most puppies, still wasn't very good at holding it. 

"I, am so so sorry, but actually, would you be okay with us making a quick pit stop at my house on the way to the grump space? I forgot to let my puppy out and I really don't want her accidentally wetting the floor." He requested apologetically.

"Way to kill the mood," You giggled, "But I understand, just so long as I don't have to visit your murder dungeon."

"Why would I have a murder dungeon?"

"I mean, you have yet to deny being a serial killer, that seems pretty fishy to me."

***  
"Nice place you've got here Romeo," You laughed as the two of you walked up to the front door of his well sized home. 

"Thanks," He smiled sheepishly, still a bit embarrassed that he had switched so immediately from a kiss, to the subject of dog pee. As soon as he unlocked the door, a pair of ecstatic pups barreled through it, one of them running right into you.

"Chica no!" He reprimanded, a suppressed laugh in his voice. The golden retriever had taken you by surprise, and now had you more or less, pinned to the ground, her drippy tongue leaving wet patches all over your face.

"So th...this is the notorious Chica," You giggled, wiping slobber from your cheek as Mark pulled her away. The golden whined as he did so, instantly distraught about the distance between her and the stranger.

"Stop whining Chica bica. Not everyone wants a face mask of your drool," He smiled, scratching the dog behind the ears as another came up from behind you. He was much more mild mannered, giving you a sniff, and then running himself under your hand to request some love. You obliged him and threaded your fingers through his shaggy fluff.

"That's Lego, he's a little attention ho," Mark chuckled, stepping inside to grab a pair of leashes. "Would you mind walking him? I'm not sure where Ryan is but I'm sure Leggers would be very appreciative."

"Sure," You smiled, taking one of the leashes and hooking it up to the pup. 

***

"So um, about that's kiss then," Mark murmured as the two of you walked down the road.

"What about it Mr. Fish," You replied, bumping into him with your shoulder.

"Well, it's just that, I don't usually kiss people on the first date and I didn't want you to get the wrong impression of me and," 

"Mark, it's okay," You cooed melting just a little when you glanced over towards his apologetic eyes. "But for the record, I'm pretty sure that counts as kissing someone before the first date,"

"I payed for lunch didn't I?" He defended, playfully bumping back into you.

"That you did, I suppose I'll count it then," You nudged him back, this time a little bit harder.

"So...we went on a first date then..." You heard him whisper to himself, a small smile tugging at his lips. This was so bizarre to you, you'd never felt this strongly about someone this quickly, and yet, everything he did just made you grow fonder. 

"Mark," You murmured, turning to look at him as you walked.

"Yeah?"

"I realLEEEE," You were suddenly jerked forward by an excited dog who had caught wind of a small creature.

"Lego stop!" Mark shouted, barely holding on to Chica as the mutt pulled you along. Eventually, your legs couldn't keep up, and you tripped, falling to the ground. The excited dog quickly realized that you'd fallen, and ended his pursuit to give you a sniff. Seconds later Mark rushed over to you, stepping on Chica's leash and kneeling down beside you.

"Oh my God (Y/N) are you okay?!?" He seemed frantic and genuinely upset that you had fallen.

"I'm okay, really," You smiled, accepting Mark's hand and pulling yourself up. "Just a little scuffed up," You lifted up your elbow to assess the damage, it was a little bloody, but nothing too dramatic.

"Oh my gosh you're bleeding!" He gasped, taking Lego from you. 

"I'm really alright. I just need a paper towel to clean up the scrapes.” You leaned over to look at your knee, which due to the hole in your jeans, had also taken quite a beating. Mark seemed to notice too, because he quickly turned around and squatted down.

“Climb on m’lady, your chariot awaits,” He announced in the most gentlemanly of voices he could think of. Carefully, you wrapped your arms around his sturdy shoulders and your legs around his waist. Being this close to him, it only took a second for his subtle scent to make its way into your nose. It was just as you’d remembered, minus the sharpness of the alcohol. Part of you felt a bit odd being carried on his back, but another part felt right at home. He was was warm, and gentle, and safe, three things that you’d rarely felt living alone in a big city like LA. 

When you made it back to Mark’s house, he unclipped the dogs from their leashes, kicked off his shoes, and carried you over to the couch. 

“I’ll be right back, Im just gonna go get something to clean up your scrapes.” He smiled, padding away with the dogs on his heels. His home was nice, a little messy as one would expect a bachelor pad to be, but still charming in its own way. A small yellow cat mewed at you as it jumped up onto the couch and nuzzled against you.

“I see you’ve befriended Banana,” Mark smiled, coming back with a little white first aid box. Dumping a bit of peroxide onto a cotton ball, he smiled up at you, his genuine eyes hidden ever so slightly by his glasses. Gingerly, he wiped at the dried blood causing you to hiss a bit at the stinging.

“What a great end to a first date,” he laughed apologetically, gently wrapping his fingers around your forearm, and turning it a bit so he could get you your elbow. 

“For a date that wasn’t even a date to start out with, I’d say it went exceedingly well.” You beamed, inhaling sharply as the peroxide nipped at your wound. Mark furrowed his brows a bit in concern, but quickly found the smile on your face and let it go.

“Do you want a Hello Kitty or a Batman Band-Aid?” He asked, pulling two boxes from the first aid kit.

“Why on earth do you have Hello Kitty Band-Aid’s?” You snickered.

“Why on earth would I not? No home is complete without beloved feline cartoon characters on it’s adhesive bandages.” 

You couldn’t help but laugh at how serious he had been when he said that, his childish nature was oddly charming. For his sake, you pointed to the Hello Kitty bandages and his face lit up.

“I knew you’d see it my way,” He laughed, peeling open and adhering a few of them. Glancing out his window, you couldn’t help but notice how late it was getting.

“As fun as this has been, do you think we could head back to the Grump Space? I’d like to get a decent amount of sleep tonight.” 

“Oh, of course!” He smiled, standing up grabbing his keys.

***

A short car trip later, you were back where you’d started.

“So, I’ll text you later then?” He smiled hopefully.

“Mm hmm.” You replied as he pulled you in for a hug. He gave such good hugs. Like a bear, soft and warm, yet firm and secure. This time, the hug lingered a bit longer than usual, neither one of you wanting to pull away from the other’s warmth. Eventually, with a sigh, you let go. 

“Goodbye Mark,”

“Bye (Y/N).”

You’d just gotten into your car pulled away when Danny, Arin, and Ross, who had watched the whole scene play out, exited the building.

“Good Job dude, I knew you had it in ya,” Arin laughed, patting Mark on the back.

“How was it? Was it everything you dreamed?” Danny snickered, coming around to wrap an arm around Mark’s shoulders.

“And more…” Mark mumbled absentmindedly. 

“Who had Mark manages to not screw things up and ends up even deeper in the rabbit hole?” Ross questioned. Arin raised his hand jokingly.

“You laugh, but I didn’t just not screw things up, I managed to get a kiss out of it!” Mark bragged, suddenly snapping out of his fantasy world.

“Shit dude really? What the fuck voodoo magic did you have to do to pull that off?” Arin questioned in surprise.

“I dont actually know… I just… asked her if I could kiss her.”

“Very romantic,” Ross snickered.

“And then. Oh God then I immediately told her I needed to go home so that Chica wouldn’t pee on the floor.” Mark realized in sudden horror.

“PFFT,” The three grumps stuttered in unison.

“You did what?!?” Arin guffawed, trying to reign in his laughter.

“So fucking smooth,” Danny cackled, removing his arm from around Mark’s shoulder to make laughing easier. Mark ran through his hair and looked to the ground to hide the embarrassment on his face. 

“Come on buddy, let’s go inside so you can tell us all of the the ways in which you royally fucked up.” Ross snickered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah. Did I really just do that? Things were going much too slowly for my liking, I just want to get to the part where I get to write in cuddles and kisses every chapter. Sorry if you're one of those who likes incredibly slow builds, the awkward friendship stage was slowly killing me to write.
> 
> Big thank you to catsandblankie for requesting that Chica make an appearance :) And thanks a million to you lovelies for all of your kind comments and kudos, it really does make my day.
> 
> ~ Xx Ace


	6. Peter Pan & Tinker Bell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'll be there in an hour, wear lots of black, and prepare yourself for war,"
> 
> What does he have planned?

*Ping* Your phone notified you of the incoming text message. With all of the agility and grace of a 13 year old girl, you flopped across your bed and reached for your phone. It had been 2 weeks since your 'first date,' but due to your mutually busy recording schedules, and Mark having gone to Cincinnati for the week, neither of you had had a chance to see each other again. That hadn't stopped your relationship, of which you hadn't yet labeled, from progressing though. The two of you had been texting fools. So much so that he had apparently been scolded by his mom on multiple occasions for texting at the dinner table. You couldn’t help but find the amount of power his mom still had over him just a little bit adorable.

Merk: Have you read any of the comments on our collab? xD

You: No…. should I?

Merk: Absoultely not. (Y/N), They know

You: Who knows about what?

Merk: The commenters, they could see our incredible chemistry on camera. They totally know that we kissed.

You: Don’t they also see incredible chemistry between you and Sean?

Merk: Yeah but...we haven’t ever kissed

You: For some reason I can’t find it within myself to believe that statement

Merk: We haven’t! And how did you manage to twist this on me? My point is that people "ship" us.

You: I thought you hated that word

Merk: That's why I put it in quotations

You: Since when do quotation marks indicate hatred?

Merk: Since always  
Merk: Anyway, you distracted me  
Merk: My point is, the fans think we'd be good together, and I trust their judgement

You: Since when do you trust your fans? aren't they the same people who convinced you to eat hot sauce from a coffin?

Merk: You know about that?  
Merk: That means you watch my videos!

You: Of course I do, gotta scope out the competition ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Merk: Fair enough xD  
Merk: DAMMIT YOU DISTRACTED ME AGAIN 

You: Sorry :')

Merk: What I was trying to say before your multiple tangents, is that...  
Merk: If you're up for it, I'd like to go on another date with you

You: I'd like that ^.*

Merk: Fantastic! How's four sound?

You: Wait what?

Merk: Assuming you're not busy today

You: I'm not, but you're in Cincinnati

Merk: Correction, I'm leaving Cincinnati. My flight gets in at three...

You: Well now you know I'm not busy so I can't say no ;-; 

Merk: Oh pah-lease, how could you say no to this adorable face?

You: I can't see your face right now so

Merk: Google me then.  
Merk: Actually no wait don't do that

You: Too late dork. These are some lovely pictures of you, really 10/10 attractive.

Merk: What have you done

You: Something short of unleashing the kraken

Merk: Dear God why.  
Merk: Oh shit. They just called my flight in for boarding, I gotta go! See you at four? :)

You: I guess, but you'd better wine and dine me fish ;)

Merk: Only the best for you m'lady

***  
It was four o'clock on the dot, and here you were on your front porch, dressed in all black per his secret request. You'd given him your address once he'd gotten back on the ground, and were now just waiting for him to arrive. Speaking of the devil, up he pulled and out he climbed.

"(Y/N)!" He beamed, running up to the porch to greet you. Before you had a chance to react, he'd already pulled you into a tight hug. "I missed you," He grinned, stepping away.

"I missed you too," You giggled, noticing that he too was dressed in all black. "So what's with the costumes?"

"I can't tell you dingus," He laughed, hesitantly taking your hand and gauging your reaction. After seeing the warmth spread across your cheeks, he tightened his hold a bit and gently pulled you to the car.

"You know, this black car really isn't helping your 'I'm not a psychopath' case,"

"You're still not over that?" He chucked, opening the car door for you to get in.

"I dunno, you're a pretty shady dude," You replied with a smirk. Climbing into the car, he shut the door behind you and went around.

"Off we go!" He grinned, starting it up and taking off.

"You know, I have to ask, one a scale from one to fuck time zones, how jet lagged are you?" You questioned

"Eh, it's not too bad, I've got a little headache but I took some Tylenol so I should be good to go,"

"Woah, what's your secret then? Last time I flew back home, I spent the entire day on the couch," 

"Woah, that's terrible... I guess jetlag just doesn't really affect me," 

"Lucky little shit," You laughed. The laughter quickly faded to silence as a large warm hand wrapped around your own. Glancing over at Mark, you could see he wasn't looking your way, but his face was crinkled into a smile. You could feel your heart beat heavy in your hand. This was nice.

***

LA traffic had been terrible, but none the less, you arrived at your destination, instantly aware of why you were wearing black.

"Laser tag! You're going down fish!" You beamed, leaping out of the car as soon as you were parked.

"Actually, I figured we could be on the same team and take everyone else down," He suggested with an amused grin.

"Oh... Yeah, that probably makes more sense," 

The two of you entered the pirate ship shaped building, and your senses were instantly overloaded. Flashing lights from the arcade games, plastic skeletons hanging from the ceiling, and stale pizza cheese stench clinging to every surface, it was wonderful. Walking up to the counter, Mark requested a pair of 3 hour game passes. The cashier, who'd previously had a tired glaze over his face, perked up immediately. 

"Oh my God! (Y/T/N) and Markiplier?" He half squealed, catching the both of you off guard. 

"Oh, no, you must be mistaken, that Markiplier dude is a complete asshole, I couldn't possibly be him," Mark snickered 

"Your lie really isn't that convincing what with your fire engine red hair," You laughed, nudging him in the rib cage.

"I'm a really big fan of you two, is there any chance I could get a selfie?" The cashier questioned hopefully.

"I mean, if you want, but I'm not Markiplier," Mark insisted playfully. You took the phone from the boy and held it at arm's length. After you'd snapped a picture, he pulled out the passes

"On the house," He beamed as he handed them over. "Hey by the way, the video you guys filmed together was really funny, I was curious if you'll be filming more in the future... Cause... You two are really cute together," He smiled brightly.

"Oh, thank you," You laughed nervously,

"Of course, (Y/N) is a great friend!" Mark grinned, nodding a thanks to the cashier as you walked away. As soon as you were out of ear shot, Mark exploded into a whisper of apologies. "I'm Sorry, I panicked! But we haven't put any labels on... this," He explained gesturing back and fourth between the two of you. "So, I didn't want to freak you out by saying anything specific and I didn't know how public or private you wanted this to be and,"

"Mark, slow down, it's alright, I understand," You smiled, allowing him to exhale that breath he'd been holding. He was so jumpy, and seemingly terrified to disappointing you.

"(Y/N)?" He questioned, taking your hand as you walked.

"Mm hmm?" 

There was a long silent pause as you reached the door.

"N... Never mind," He replied, quickly pushing whatever it was out of his head and excitedly dragging you into the holding room for the first game. You of course wanted to ask what he was going to say, but before you'd gotten the chance, an employee with a sad attempt of a pirate accent stepped in to give you all a run down on what to expect. 

"Are you ready for war?" Mark whispered as the two of you picked out your guns.

"Heck yeah," 

Mark helped you with your vest, glancing at your name plate and laughing.

"Oh my God you got Peter Pan? I picked Tinker Bell!" 

"Really?" You laughed as you entered the arena. The two of you quickly surveyed the area to determine where to go. A pair of pirate ships sat on opposite sides of the arena, one flying a red flag, the other a blue. In between the two was a mess of wave shaped walls hiding massive silicone sea monsters and 'the bones of those lost at sea'

"Quick, to the pirate ship!" You yelled, gripping his hand and running to your base. 

"We need to make sure we stick together," He reminded as the two of you ducked behind a barrel on the ship. The timer counted down, 3...2...1...

"Here we go!" Mark whispered glancing towards you, only to see that you'd actually already run off. "(Y/N)?... (Y/N)!" He felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned to see you standing behind him.

"Come on slowpoke, the blue team's ship isn't gonna invade itself."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I not preface this by saying there would be romantic cliche's out the wazoo? Well for anyone who didn't read the tags, this is your official warning.
> 
> Also, guess who's now offically done with the school for the semester! Hopefully that translates into more frequent updates for you guys :)
> 
> As always, feel free to leave a comment about what you'd like to see in future chapters  
> ~ Xx Ace


	7. Garlic Breath Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I mean, this chapter has so much cheese, I'd highly recommend the lactose intolerant, and all my vegans out there to run while you have the chance. It's just a mess of cute. Hope you enjoy :)

"Watch your back!" Mark warned, applying his reflector shield and leaping in between you and the incoming assailant. 

"Thanks Tink," You grinned, hiding behind Mark and firing at the incoming mob of Blue. The two of you had become an unstoppable force on the battle field. Time and time again, the game would end, and you'd watch as the names Peter Pan and Tinker Bell appeared at the top of the score board. 

"Mark, the blue team left their ship!" You hissed as you crept through the underwater maze.

"Shit, they must be attacking our base then." He mumbled.

"I think it's okay, didn't Cap'n Jack and Barbosa say they would stay behind to guard the base?" 

"Oh, you're right, let's go then," He whispered, waving you up onto the ship with him. Bingo. Your eyes locked on the target at their helm. Briefly glancing at Mark, you began open firing on the target.

"The ship is under attack!" A pre recorded pirates voice rang out. You'd just finished taking out the target, when five blue team members leaped aboard the ship. Quickly activating your own shield, you went back to back with Mark as the herd converged on you. Blast by blast, the lights on their vests flashed yellow as you shot them down. Fumbling blindly for Mark's hand, you took hold and ran down the steps into the maze.

"Nice job back there," He grinned as you pulled him along.

"Thanks, you too!" You laughed, stopping once the two of you were hidden amongst the forest of seaweed. 

"Did anyone follow us?" He asked as you glanced around.

"I don't think so, why?" You whispered, turning to face him. "Ooh!" You jumped back a bit surprised at how close he was to you.

"Because, I'd like a moment, for something I've wanted to do since I saw you sitting on your steps earlier," He whispered, eyelids low. His free hand curved around your waist as you leaned into him almost instinctively.  
Trembling lips pressed against hesitant ones, easily blending together in timid synchronization. Gently, his hand slid up your back to the nape of your neck, where he wrapped his fingers in your hair. 

"Come on! I think they went this way!" A voice shouted. Footsteps drew near as a pair of blue vests illuminated the seaweed forest. Your grip tightened on your gun, your body reluctantly pulling away from Mark. As soon as they came into range, you shot them down and ran. A slightly miffed Mark was on on your tail as you retreated to your base for cover. Suddenly, the buzzer sounded, marking the end of your last game. 

"Alright!" You beamed, latching onto Mark for a victory hug.

"Nice work out there Pan," Mark chuckled, taking off his gear and returning it to the rack.

"Same to you, though your tactics in the seaweed forest almost cost us," You snickered back.

***

"Well that was fun," You smiled, plunking down into the car.

"That it was," Mark yawned, shutting the door behind you. As he walked around the car, he stretched his arms up over his head, causing his shirt to raise and reveal a strip of tanned skin. Damn.

"Time zones finally catching up with ya?" You questioned as he slid into the drivers seat.

"Nah, I'm fine." He smiled, fighting off another yawn.

"I'm sure you are, but you should probably head home and get some sleep."

"What me sleep? It's only 8! The night is young, and I don't know about you, but I'm starved." 

"Heh, yeah I'm a bit hungry too," You admitted, feeling your stomach gurgle.

"Perfect, how's about we swing by my place, and I'll cook you the best damn pasta you've ever had. Maybe we could even pop in a movie and make a night of it" He grinned.

"I'd by lying if I said that didn't sound pretty great right now,"

***

"Seen it... Meh... Maybe... Seen it... Why does he own this?" You'd been keeping a quiet commentary on Mark's extensive DVD collection over the past 30 minutes. As soon as you'd walked through the door, he had directed you to the movie case, and told you 'not to step foot in the kitchen' because he'd wanted to make it a surprise. There wasn't much to surprise you with considering you already knew it was pasta of some sort, but you'd left him to his devices just to appease him. Suddenly, a crash rang out from the kitchen, followed by a slew of expletives. 

"Mark?" You called out, running towards the source of the sound. Before your eyes was a tomato sauce massacre. Scattered spaghetti, splattered red sauce, and a frustrated Mark were just the highlights of the mess.

"I may have dropped some... or all... of the food," He mumbled, scratching self-consciously at the back of his neck. Failing to suppress your laughter, you navigated the saucy explosion and made your way over to the red faced, red head. He watched you carefully as you slid a finger through the tomato purée and examined it.

"Bummer, I bet this would have been pretty good," You smiled sympathetically, and proceeded smear the sauce down his nose.

"Hey now!" He laughed, finding a glob of tomato behind him and streaking your forehead.

"Mark!" You giggled, jumping away and arming yourself with more. 

"Drop the sauce and no body gets hurt," Mark warned, smirking at you as he held up a fistful that he'd taken from the floor. 

"You wouldn't dare," You replied, narrowing your vision to a playful glare. There was a beat of silence, before Mark lunged at you, smearing the sauce down your cheek and grappling your arms. You had just enough time to smack a saucy hand print onto his chest before being dropped to the ground, straddled, and pinned.

"Surrender now and this can end quickly and painlessly," He chuckled, scanning over the mess on your shirt, and smiling as you faced your defeat.

"Okay okay, I surrender!" You spluttered, trying not to giggle at how much red had managed to splatter on his glasses.

"Smart girl," He smiled, standing and helping you up.

"I was just going easy on you," You smirked, taking his glasses from his face, and wiping them on the small clean spot on your shirt. "Here," You smiled, handing them back.

"Thanks... So, I need to clean up this mess, and do a second take at dinner, and you probably want to get the tomato gunk off of you." He remarked, quickly scanning the room.

"I'll help you with the kitchen, and then we can get cleaned up." You suggested.

"Sounds like a plan."

***

After the two of you had removed the tomato chunk and pasta strand decor, and Mark had put on a new pot of spaghetti, he led you upstairs to his room. You stood meekly in the doorway as he rooted through his drawers. 

"Are you okay with borrowing some of my clothes?” He questioned, looking over to see the blush spread across your cheeks.

“Sure,” You chimed, hesitantly walking in to take the clothing from his hands. 

“The bathroom’s just through there,” He gestured to the door on the opposite side of the room. "I’m gonna change, and then go finish dinner. Come on down when you’re done.”

Nodding, you padded your way into the bathroom and closed the door. He had given you a pair of black sweatpants, and a white T-Shirt with a picture of his Youtube character, Tiny Box Tim, on the front. Stripping down and swaddling yourself in his clothes, you couldn’t help the overwhelming sense of joy that came with living in his smell. It was a sweet, woody, indescribable scent. One that made your heart leap, and calmed your racing mind all at once. You’d had to roll up the legs of the sweat pants, and the shirt was incredibly droopy, but you’d be lying if you said you weren’t the definition of comfortable right now. On to the tomato facial, you realized you weren’t sure where he kept the wash clothes, so you stepped out of the bathroom to ask, but were quickly flustered upon the sight of Mark in just his boxer shorts.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry!” You stammered, turning back towards the bathroom. A flushed Mark quickly tugged on his sweatpants and ran after you.

“Sorry sorry! I figured you’d take longer than that!” He apologized.

“No No, it’s fine, I’m sorry, I just came to ask where you kept the washcloths.” You explained with a sheepish smile.

“Oh, alright,” Mark opened up one of the cabinets and handed you a red towel. 

“Thanks,” You accepted the cloth, unable to help the case of elevator eyes that you had going on. In your defense, he was unnaturally handsome, lacking a top, and wearing a pair of incredibly low waisted sweats. Really an all around disastrous combination. 

“Like what you see?” Mark inquired, playfully turning on his heel and glancing over his shoulder as he left. Wiping the imaginary drool from your chin, and shaking away the semi suggestive thoughts that had flooded your head, you shut the door and began cleaning off on your tomato face.

***

“Dinner’s almost ready, did you pick out a movie?” Mark questioned as you descended the stairs. 

“I was thinking Narnia…I haven’t seen it in a while,”

“Ooh! One of my favorites!” He cheered, walking out to turn on the TV. “Could you grab a couple blankets from the trunk in the corner? I’m gonna go finish up.”

“Sure,” You picked out the fluffiest blankets you could find and tossed them onto the couch. Looking around for a moment, you located the DVD player and put in the movie. 

“Viola!” Mark beamed, walking into the living room with two plates of pesto pasta. “I’ve no idea how, but all of the tomatoes that I bought yesterday mysteriously vanished, so we’re stuck with pesto.” He joked, setting down the plates on the coffee table. His face reddened as he took a moment to look at you. “Wow, you look...really cute in my clothes,” He mumbled, too quiet for you to hear.

“Holy hell does that smell good!” You absentmindedly licked your lips and plopped onto the couch. Mark was quick to sit down beside you, warmth radiating off of him like a personal heater. Snuggled up beneath the blankets, the movie started.

***

You weren’t surprised when Mark’s eyes began to droop, or when his head fell into your lap, or when he passed out entirely, adding faint snuffles to the movie’s soundtrack. As the credits rolled, you checked your phone, and noticed that it was long past time for you to get home. Realizing that your car was at home, you quickly phoned an uber. Trying your best not to wake the sleeping man, you lifted his head from your lap, and set it gently down on the couch. He unfortunately, stirred and woke up. 

“(Y/N)? Where are you going?” He murmured, voice raspy and dripping with sleep.

“I’m gonna head home, I had a great time” You pecked his forehead with a kiss before standing up.

“Oh, okay I’ll take you, lemme just grab my keys.” He yawned, sitting up. 

“No no, it’s okay, I already called and Uber,” You smiled, resisting the urge to run your fingers through his sleep tousled hair. 

“Are you sure, I really don’t mind,” He smiled weakly and shakily rose to his feet.

“You’re too tired to drive Mark,” 

“I am not,” He pouted, rubbing a bit at his eyes.

“Are too,” You snickered pulling him in for a hug. He however redirected you and caught your lips in his. It was a sleepy kiss, loose lipped, filled with adoration, and tasting of the garlic from dinner. 

“See you later Mark,” You whispered, reluctantly pulling away.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" He blurted, causing your heart to catch in your throat. There was half a beat of silence as you tried to process the sudden request.

"I'd, sure...yes of course!" You grinned, brain finally catching up to your mouth.

"Fantastic!" Mark beamed, scooping his hands behind your neck and pulling you in for another kiss. This one was more serious, alert, alive. When he pulled away, he searched your face for any sign of regret, but there were none to be found.

“Goodbye beautiful... My beautiful” He murmured, planting one last cheek kiss before letting you go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having so much fun writing this, that you for all of the lovely comments, and kudos, and for just reading my silly drabbles, I'm over the moon with how much positive feedback I've received on this.
> 
> If you have an idea that you'd like to see put in a future chapter, feel free to leave it in the comments, I read and respond to everything :) 
> 
> ~ Xx Ace


	8. Off To The Races

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for another installment of you and Mark getting up to some dating hijinks.

"You did what?" A shocked Wade questioned over Skype.

"I asked her to be my girlfriend," Mark repeated, twiddling his fingers excitedly.

"Well what did she say?!?" Bob added with anticipation.

"She said yes,"

"Nice one bud! All you needed was a slap on the ass to getcha goin," Sean giggled, pulling a face and shooting the others a wink.

"As much as it pains me to say this, thank you guys for pushing me to get back out there, I really... really like (Y/N)" Mark mumbled, his cheeks tinted pink. There was a beat of silence before Bob chimed in,

"As much as I appreciate the sentiments, we've got a video to record."

"Right, yes of course! Prepare to get your ass kicked boys." Mark smirked.

***

Holy shit was it hot today. You'd stripped down to the bare minimum of clothing for recording videos, and the AC was on full blast, but still your house fell like hell's pressure cooker. You were slow roasting on your pleather office chair when your phone vibrated from across the room. Begrudgingly, you slid out of the seat and trudged over to it. You had 6 new messages.

Merk: Hey (Y/N)  
Merk: It's balls to the walls hot today, but don't worry, I came up with a solution to that   
Merk: (Y/N)!!!!!!!  
Merk: Please I'm lonely and hot!  
Merk: Granted, I'm always hot ;)  
Merk: Fine, I guess I won't tell you my super amazing idea

You: Sorry, my phone didn't go off for your first few messages.

Merk: Oh sure, blame it on the phone

You: oh! Im so sorry your majesty! I should have known better than to have a life when there's the possibility of your highness gracing me with his time.

Merk: Darn right ;D

You: anyway, what's this super amazing idea?

Merk: I don't know if I want to tell you anymore now that I've been thoroughly sassed 

You: Aww come on don't be a prick

Merk: weellllll, I was GOING TO suggest that we pop over to the water park in San Dimas but, if you're busy I'll just go by myself 

You: You're referring to raging waters?

Merk: Have you ever been to another water park in San Dimas?

You: Fair enough. I'm in.  
You: Though for the record, if you had led with water park in your first message, we could have avoided this extra time spent conversing in puddles of our own sweat.

Merk: You make a valid point m'lady. ;)  
Merk: Shall I pick you up in say, an hour?

You: If you don't mind, that'd be great :)

Merk: No trouble at all, see you soon <3

You: Mark nooo it's too early for cheesy heart emojis

Merk: It was either that or a mushy gushy pet name 

You: Just go get ready ;)

Merk: Fine fine. 

Setting your phone down on the desk, you padded over to your bedroom to change. The prospect of relaxing at a water park with your recently acquired boyfriend had completely erased your heat induced misery. Sifting through your closet, you pulled out the three swimsuits that you owned and took a moment to determine which was most appropriate. A blue and white once piece, a sea foam green tankini, or a Batman bikini. Thinking back to the times you'd briefly seen him without a shirt, you couldn't help the small bit of insecurity that floated to the surface. He was quite well built, and you weren't sure if you wanted to stand next to that in a Bikini. You glanced over to the black and yellow material, embellished with a pair of iconic logos. No. You were proud of your body, sure it wasn't perfect, but he knew that, and dammit if he had a problem with it, better to get it out there while the relationship was young. Giving yourself a pat on the back for your burst of self confidence, you dawned the bikini and gave yourself a once over in the mirror. Foxy as fuck. Over the bikini, you draped a simple coverup. Time to bust out the waterproof mascara.   
***  
Merk: M'lady, your chariot awaits. ;)

Glancing at the phone, you slipped on your flip flops and went out the door. Mark was leaning against a cherry red convertible, his figure framed quite well by a tank top and some board shorts. 

"Since when is the word chariot synonymous with a convertible?" You teased, pecking him on the cheek and dropping into the car.

"Hear me out, it's a mustang, so it's sorta like a horse drawn chariot." He laughed at his own joke and sped off.  
***

"Passes?" Mark handed over both of your tickets and you entered the park.

"Holy hell is it crowded," Mark mumbled, absentmindedly pulling your hand into his. The two of you headed over to a pair of beach chairs and set down your bags. Kicking off your flip flops, you watched Mark remove his shirt from the corner of your eye. You hated to admit it, but there was good reason for his ego. Mark caught your wandering eyes and smirked.

"What? You like what you see?" He questioned, flexing his biceps and giving them a kiss. 

"Adorable," You snickered.

"Adorable? Men are not adorable!" Mark defended with a deep chuckle.

"Oh I apologize, you're so hot, you sexy animal." You rolled your eyes as you removed your own cover up.

"That's be-" Mark stopped short as you set down the cover up. His eyes clouded over as a blush peeked out from beneath his glasses.

"Mark? Earth to fish can you read me?" You questioned, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Sorry sorry, I was just distracted by the... superb craftsmanship of your swimsuit." He explained with a coy grin.

"Oh, uh huh," You rolled your eyes dramatically as the two of you set off into the water park.

"So what are you thinking? Wave pool or water slide first?" You questioned, meeting his playful brown eyes.

"I'm thinking, wave pool first, just to cool down, then a water slide marathon to shame all other waterslide marathons." He grinned.

"Sounds good." You paused a moment and caught his eyes again. "I'll race ya to the wave pool, loser pays for ice cream later." The smile tugging at his lips signaled you that the race was on, and like a bolt, you took off running.

"(Y/N)! The wave pool is this way!" Mark shouted, causing you to turn around. He was pointing in the direction opposite of the one you were headed in. Now it was your turn to blush.

"I knew that... I was... Just trying to trick you." You stammered, walking back over to him with a sheepish grin.

"Oh, uh huh," he exaggerated, smiling at you in the silence, before taking off running. Your mad dash to the wave pool was not without casualties. Mark nearly tripped over a toddler, and you tipped over someone's chair. It was all worth it though, because you were just inches from the water. Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around your waist, yanking you back and lifting you into the air. You whipped your head around to see Mark, with the biggest shit eating grin on his face. Dramatically, he walked into the water, holding you just above the surface.

"Oops, looks like I win." He chuckled as you squirmed your way out of his grasp.

"Dammit you cheated!" You pouted as your feet splashed down into the pool. 

"Cheated? Moi?" He feigned disgust, placing his hands over his heart. "There was nothing in the rules about picking people up so, I don't know what you're talking about."

Out of the corner of your eye you could see two boys, about 11 years old, staring at Mark. You assumed that they recognized him. More importantly though, they were both holding squirt guns. 

"Fine fine, you won Mark," You mumbled, running over to the little boys. "Can I borrow one of those real quick to shoot that man?" You asked, pointing to Markiplier.

"You're (Y/T/N)! One of them whispered, shyly handing you his gun.

"Are you gonna go shoot Markiplier?" The other one asked excitedly. You nodded and he cocked his gun. "Can we come help you?"

"Welcome aboard soldiers." You grinned, turning to look at Mark who had a puzzled expression on his face. The boy who's gun you'd taken pulled a water pistol out of his swim trunks and discreetly filled it. "Alright on my count. 3...2...Go go go!" You whipped around and dashed across the shallows. Before Mark even had a chance to speak, the three of you berated him with shot after shot of chlorinated ammo. 

"Aaah! I surrender I surrender!" He screeched, raising his hands in the air. The boys ceased fire, and you got off once last shot to the chest before returning your gun to them.

"Thanks for the help," You smiled.

"Yeah! Thanks for letting us shoot Markiplier!" They gleefully shouted, running off in excitement to tell someone about who they'd just met.

"How did I not see that coming?" He whined.

"You were still high on the fumes of a ill deserved victory."

"Curse my celebratory mindset." He laughed, wrapping an arm around your shoulder and quickly kissing the top of your head. "Now that we're sufficiently wet, shall we head to the waterslides?"

"Sounds like a plan,"  
***

"I bet I could beat you down the waterslides." Mark challenged as the two of you stood in line.

"But they're the exact same length."

"Yeah but I'm heavier because of all this raw muscle." He laughed at himself, "So I'll go faster."

"I'm pretty sure that's not how physics work, didn't you say you were almost an engineer?"

"Hey now, let's not go bringing my college drop out history into this." 

"College drop out or not, your weight still isn't gonna make you go faster down the slide."

"And why is that?"

"I mean, I'm no expert, but wasn't it kinda proven already by Galileo that all free falling objects hit the earth at the same rate?"

Mark stood mouth agape.

"And even though we wouldn't be free falling, the only other big factor would be friction, and if anything, wouldn't the heavier person so slower, because there's more friction and thus more drag?" You bopped his mouth shut with your palm and stepped up to the front of the line.

"Holy shit I knew you were beautiful but hot damn you're mecha smart too? Literally my two biggest turn on's and you've exceeded both of them." He whispered.

"Keep it in your pants fish," You snickered back, stepping up to your slide as he stepped up to his.

"Let's see if your 'science' can stand up to the sheer willpower of ME." He grinned, taking his seat at the top of the slide. The lifeguard gave the signal, and like a pair of lightning bolts, you were off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning: From May 18th to June 4th I'll be in Europe, so I'll have plenty of time for writing on the trains, boats and planes, but whether or not I'm able to post is entirely up to the wifi situation. I intend to get at least one more update out before then, but in those two weeks, I can't promise anything. (I'm super sorry) 
> 
> In the mean time, I sincerely hope you enjoyed this chapter! Big thanks to Fanficgirl2727 for the water park idea. If you have anything you'd like to see in the story, leave me a comment :)
> 
> Thanks for reading  
> X Ace


	9. The Ship Has Sailed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of the Water Park date, Mark making dorky little mistakes, Jack being a good wingman, and a bit of Twittering :)

Water whirled around your head, flooding your ears and whipping your hair around. Flying down the slide, you could hear Mark's excited cackles off in the distance. The sound of rushing water grew louder until you found yourself being flung forwards into the pool at the bottom of the slide. Bubbles whizzed past your ears as you shut your eyes tight and popped your head above water. Wiping your eyes clean, you turned to your left to see Mark being flung out of the slide next to you. As soon as he surfaced, he looked to you in disbelief.

"How the heck did you beat me?" He stuttered as the two of you climbed out of the pool.

"I just picked the slide with the stronger water current dingus." You beamed, poking his cheek as it sagged into a pout.

"Okay, that's not fair." 

"There are many things in life that aren't fair." You cooed.

"And this is one of them." He smirked. Ducking down, he ran into you, flinging you over his shoulder and speeding ahead. With you pounding at his back the whole way, he ran over to one of the duo slides and got in line. When he finally set you down, you shot him a sleazy smile. 

"Was that water or sweat on your back?" You questioned

"Both?" He shrugged his shoulders sheepishly and picked up a tube.

"Oh joy."

Setting down the tube at the top of the slide, he dropped in and patted his lap. 

"Come with me if you want to live." He grinned, extending his hand to you.

As you sat down, he wrapped his arms around your waist and rested his chin on your shoulder. His scruff brushed against your neck whenever he spoke. 

"Hold on tight," You beamed, gripping the edges of the slide and pushing off. 

"Shhi- waai-" Mark began to shout, but his words were lost to the tunnel. His grip around you tightened as you sped down the slide. Water lapped up against the tube, causing his nails to dig shallow crescents into your stomach. The feeling of skin against skin grew ever more obvious the further down the slide you went. When at last you came out at the bottom, the tube slid out from underneath you, and you both went crashing into the pool. Bobbing your head up for air, you only had time for one breath before something soft pressed against your lips. Blinking your eyes open, you could see Mark. His eyes were shut, lips curved into a coy smile as he kissed you. Soft, sweet, and-

"Ow!" You shrieked as he bit your lip.

"That's for catching me off guard on the slide." He smirked, climbing out of the pool.

Squinting your eyes into a glare, you massaged the sore spot on your lip and walked along side him.

"I'm sorry, that was mean," He murmured, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and pulling you closer. "Let's go get some ice cream to help your lip."

"Aww, are you feeling guilty for being a lil brat?"

"Hey watch it now, or I'll make you pay. You did after all, lose the bet earlier." He teased.

"I didn't lose! You cheated!" You defended.

"I consider it a tactical move."

"Is 'tactical move' a synonym for cheater cheater pumpkin eater?"

"No, it's a synonym for winner winner chicken dinner." 

"Oh my God you actual dork" You rolled your eyes.

He laughed and stepped up to the service counter at the snack hut.  
"Can I get one chocolate cone and a..." He looked over to prompt you to order.

"Swirl please." You requested. When the cashier turned to the ice cream machine to fill your order, you couldn't help the devious grin that washed over your face. Glancing down at Mark's well defined back side, you gave it a swift smack. Yelping, he turned to you with a look of shock.

"That's for biting my lip." You smirked, as his shock melted into understanding.

"Fine fine, I surrender," He rolled his eyes playfully. "But next time, you won't be so lucky."

***

The rest of your time at the water park had been great. You'd finished your ice creams, gone on a few more slides, and then Mark had taken you home. You'd only been home half an hour or so, before your phone alerted you of an incoming message.

Merk: I've made a mistake.

You: Nothing new ;P

Merk: Ha ha. You're so funny. :-|  
Merk: Anyway, I may have...  
Merk: might have

You: what did you do?

Merk: Locked myself out of my house

You: Don't you have roommates.

Merk: Yeah but they're both out of town!

You: And you didn't think to leave a key under the mat or something?

Merk: I don't have a mat! 

You: Looks like you've fucked up

Merk: I KNOW THAT

You: Did you call a locksmith 

Merk: Yeah but they're closed till tomorrow.

You: Well, I guess you'll be stuck hanging out with me some more today

Merk: I'm glad you said that, I really didn't want to invite myself over but xD

You: Yeah yeah, get on over here dork

Merk: See you soon Duchess of Dork

You'd just sat down at your computer to do a bit of editing, when yet another text came through.

Merk: SHIT!

You: What now?

Merk: I LOCKED MY KEYS IN MY CAR!

You: How did you manage to screw up this badly?

Merk: I DONT NOW  
Merk: *NEW  
Merk: FGSHSH *KNOW  
Merk: I hate everything 

You: I guess this means I have to come get you

Merk: You're the bestest

You: Remember that next time you're considering doing something revenge oriented. 

Merk: Duly noted

***

Two drives and a session of car ride karaoke later, the two of you had arrived at your home.

"So I finally get to see Casa De (Y/N)." Mark smiled.

"Quite exciting I'm sure." You laughed, unlocking the door and kicking off your shoes.

"Pretty swaggy place you've got here." He laughed.

"Did you just say... swaggy?"

"Did I? God help me I'm slowly going insane."

"First you lock yourself out of your house, then your car, now you're saying swaggy, and earlier, you BIT me! Oh my God Mark." You gasped in mock horror, "You're turning into a vampire!"

"Oh fuck off."

You laughed quietly as you walked into the kitchen. "I was gonna make dinner in a bit but, if you're hungry, I can go ahead and start it up." You smiled, scratching at your scalp.

"Ooh! No wait! Let me do it!"

"No. Absolutely not. Last time you cooked, I was picking spaghetti off of myself for a week." You reminded.

"Yeah, but then I made an amazing pesto pasta that convinced you to be my girlfriend," He countered.

"It wasn't the pasta that convinced me to date you Mark." You snickered and pulled yourself up to sit on the edge of the kitchen counter.

"Oh?" He cocked and eyebrow, stepping foreword and carefully resting his hands on your hips. "What was it then?" He questioned.

A blush spread across your cheeks, his closeness catching you off guard. Gently, you sat your arms on his shoulders and clasped your fingers together behind his head.

"Well, for starters, your dog is an absolute chick magnet." You giggled. Mark let out a small laugh, breaking eye contact and smiling. 

"But, I dunno, you're," You ran your hands from his shoulders, down over the curve of his biceps. "Pretty handsome and," You lifted your hands to thread fingers into his hair. "You're incredibly sweet," Carefully removing his glasses, you put them on yourself. "A little bit dorky," You set the glasses aside to nuzzle his nose against your own. "Oddly endearing," The red in his cheeks burned bright, and you could see him trying to swallow his nerves. "And when you're flustered, like right now," You smiled and wrapped your hands around his head. "Your cheeks go bright red and give you away." Lovingly, you leaned in to meet the lips of a dumbfounded Mark. Sweet, soft, malleable... gone. Mark pulled away quickly, his face bright red and his eyes wide. 

"Can I um... Use your bathroom real quick?" He questioned. 

"Oh my God, could you have picked a worse time?" You laughed, shoving him back.

"I didn't pick it! My bladder did!"

You sighed, rubbing your eyes. "It's down the hall, second door on your left."

"Cool cool, be back in a sec if you want to go ahead and start up dinner? I'll help you as soon as I get back." He promised, running off. 

As soon as Mark was in the bathroom and out of earshot, he pulled out his phone and opened Bob's contact. A call, no answer.

"Dammit Bob." He hissed, pulling up Wade's number and trying again. Another call, still no answer.

"Fuck, shit!" He growled under his breath and called up Jack, his last hope. 

"Come on buddy, pick up pick up." He whispered, sliding down to sit on the floor.

"Hello?" Sean answered in confusion.

"Oh thank God you answered! I need help!" Mark hissed.

"What mess have you managed this time?" 

"I'm over at (Y/N)'s, and she just got really sweet and deep, and I couldn't handle it so I ran into the bathroom and hid." Mark explained quickly.

"If she's going too fast, just tell her." 

"That's not it though, I really like her... Might actually even...shit... I might even love her... But I'm, what if I screw things up? What if I scare her off with my obnoxious personality or, I say something stupid and she changes her mind about me, or she decides I'm a shitty kisser or, one of us has to move away for some reason and the relationship ends in-"

"Holy shite! Calm the fuck down would ya?" Jack interrupted. "You're gonna do more damage to your relationship hiding in the bathroom, than you will if you go out there and fail at sweeping her off of her feet. May I suggest the policy of honesty? I'm pretty sure the ladies dig that." He laughed

"Oh..." 

"Now get your romantic ass out there, and be the suave motherfucker that you claim to be in all of your videos." Jack bellowed.

"You're right!" Mark smiled, standing up with a bit more confidence.

"Of course I am, now get back out there or she'll think you're taking a shit."

"Aaa no you're right! I'd better go, thanks!" 

"Go getem tiger." Jack cackled a bit before the connection ended.

Quickly, Mark ran back out to the kitchen, and saw you standing in front of the stove, stirring a pot of something. Seeing a chance, he quietly approached, and wrapped his arms around your waist, setting a chin on your shoulder.

"Hi." You smiled. "Did you enjoy your poop?"

"Dammit! Sean said you'd think that!" Mark grumbled. His eyes suddenly went wide as he realized what he'd said.

"Oh, so that's who you were talking to in the bathroom, I thought you'd just gone mental and we're having a riveting conversation with yourself." You giggled.

"Sorry, he uh... called... asking about..."

"You can spare me your poorly constructed lie fish, you don't have to tell me why you were calling Sean in the bathroom, if you need a poop buddy I understand." You snickered, squirming out of his grasp to grab a few bowls.

"That's not why I called him! And I wasn't pooping! Gentlemen don't poop in ladies bathrooms."

"Well, unless you feel like telling me why you ran off, then I'm gonna assume that he's your poop buddy." 

Mark hoisted himself up onto the counter as you poured tomato soup into the bowls and flipped the grilled cheese off the burner. He sighed loudly and took in a few deep breaths.

"Fuck." He mumbled to himself. "Okay... I called Sean for advice," He started, prompting you to turn towards him and listen. "because, I was scared of screwing things up with you, and...I just needed someone to get me out of my head...That sounded really fake, I'm sorry and-"

"Thank you."

"W-what?"

"Thank you for being honest." You smiled.

"Really?"

"Yeah, honesty looks really cute on you." You grinned stepping closer.

"Well, if you think I look cute right now, you should see how cute I look when I kiss someone I'm really into." He grinned sheepishly and wrapped an arm around your waist to pull you flush to him. 

"Oh? Well, I suppose you'll have to show me then." Your eyes locked with his, daring him to go on. 

"Gladly." Lips connected again. Caring, warm, and a little bit needy. You felt yourself being pushed back against the counter as his hands worked their way into your hair, tugging and massaging in a steady rhythm. Crawling beneath the hem of his shirt, your hands found their way to his chest. It was smooth, the muscles firm and well defined. As your fingers traced his skin, he let out a small noise, barely audible, but oh how you wanted to hear it again. Your fingers backtracked until they found the spot. A bit more pressure released a noise that wasn't quite a moan and wasn't quite a grunt. It was this perfect, deep mix that danced in your ears and drew you in. 

His hands fell from your hair to cascade down your back, pressing in at every divot of your spine as he went. His thumbs tugged at your waistband, testing the waters. Suddenly, your elbow flew back and crashed into a plastic bowl, pulling you back into the world.

"Oh, shit, Mark the food." You murmured, turning to look at the dinner you'd made.

"Oh... Yeah, yeah." He mumbled, sighing and adjusting his pants

"Come on, you can bone yourself later." You smirked. Placing the soup and sandwiches onto trays, the two of you made your way to the living room where you plopped down and began eating. You glanced over to see Mark snapping a photo of his food, his middle finger peeking into the view finder. 

"What on earth are you doing?"

"Taking credit for your work via Twitter."

Confused, you hopped onto your phone and over to Mark's Twitter page. 

@Markiplier: Look at this epic shit that I just made. Bet you wish you were my mouth!

Lowering your eyebrows, you typed out a response.

@(Y/T/N): @Markiplier You asshole I made that epic shit!

"You do realize what you've just done right?" Mark questioned with a laugh.

"Mm... Taken back credit where credit is due?"

"Well that, but you've also opened up the fangirl floodgates." He reminded, handing you his phone to see a massive page of replies.

@(Y/N)'sEyelashes: @(Y/T/N) @Markiplier Did you make him dinner? That's so cute!

@Markipoodles: @Markiplier OMF! (Y/N) made you food! 

@MarknBeans: @Markiplier Permission to climb aboard the ship sir? 

@YoutubeIsBae: @Markiplier Are you guys filming together today?!?

"The ship has sailed." You laughed, returning his phone. "Now what shall we watch?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long! I'm currently in Paris with the best wifi I've had yet during the trip, so I'm finally able to get this up!
> 
> The next chapter is half written, so expect that soon :)
> 
> As always, if you're enjoying the story and want to help influence your characters path, feel free to suggest date and event ideas in the comments.
> 
> ~Xx Ace


	10. Pharmaceutical Drugs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sick Mark, sleep overs, and a pinch of love.
> 
> These were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect fluff fic. But your beloved author accidentally added an extra ingredient to the concoction, pharmaceutical drugs.
> 
> Thus, this terribly cringey chapter was born.
> 
> (Hope you enjoy this power puff girls inspired summary, and this extra long chapter)

Sunlight leaped through the open windows as you struggled to open your crusted over eyes.

"What even?" You mumbled to yourself as you wiped away the sleep. There was something heavy on your waist, and as you attempted to turn over, it moved to keep you in place. Aah, right. Moments from last night filled in the gaps, painting complete memories. Mark had gotten sick last night, probably from how much chlorinated water he'd swallowed at the water park. Headache, bit of vomit, fever, the whole nine yards. You'd given him some ginger ale and a pain reliever for his headache, but the pain reliever had made him a bit loopy and incoherent. He'd then crashed in your bed, insisting that you cuddle with him till he fell asleep, and of course, he'd been too heavy to move once he'd finally settled. Thus, you found yourself falling into dreams to the faint rhythm of his sleepy snuffles.

Carefully, you pulled yourself from beneath the covers, jerking out of his grasp and falling to the floor with a thud. The sound caused Mark to stir a bit, his palms moving to rub at his eyes.

"Mm guh moornin." He murmured groggily. His voice was deep and cracked from sleep. "Oh." He whispered, looking over to you and sitting up. Immediately, he put his hand to his forehead and groaned. "What the hell happened last night?" He fell back into the bed and covered his eyes. "I feel like I drank a gallon of booze."

"Well, not booze, but a gallon of diluted chlorine and a couple of pain killers seem to have the same affect." You laughed, pulling yourself onto the bed and falling into his sleepy arms. 

"Oh, I was sick last night...I'm so sorry about that" He grimaced, slapping around on the side table until he found his phone.

"It's no problem, with the rate at which you were Niagara fallsing into my toilet, I'm glad you didn't have to deal with that alone."

As he glanced at his phone, his pained expression changed to worry. "Did I sleep through the night?"

"Truth be told, I'm not sure... I checked out pretty quickly last night." You explained. "Why?"

"According to my call history, last night I called Wade, Sean, and..." He paused to chew his lip a bit. "My mom... Wonderful." He sighed, massaging his face. "Ah, I feel like shit under a shoe." He grumbled. 

"Want some Advil?" You questioned, climbing back out of bed and pulling your sleep mangled hair up into a pony tail. 

"No no, I'll be fine, but thank you." He smiled, pulling himself up as well. Groaning quietly as he stood, he followed you downstairs to the kitchen.

"Do you want some help with breakfast?" He questioned as you entered the kitchen.

"I think I can manage some toast by myself." You laughed, shooing him into the living room.

***

Shortly after breakfast, the locksmith called Mark back, and you had to drive him home. It was down pouring, so while the locksmith worked his magic on the door, you and Mark stayed dry in the car.

"How do you feel about pet names?" He questioned out of the blue.

"Hmm... I dunno fish, you tell me?"

"Right right, but what about names like babe and sweetie?"

"I'm not sure. I suppose they're a bit overused, but nice sometimes, why?"

"I'm not sure. I was just thinking about it this morning, do you mind if I use them?"

"No? Why do you ask?"

"I dunno, I'm sorry I'm being silly." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, looks like the locksmith got the door open, you wanna come inside?" He smiled.

"Mm, I'd love to, but, I really ought to go home and record..."

"Fair enough." He smiled, leaning over and kissing your cheek.

"That's all I get for taking care of you in your hour of need?" You grumbled, dramatically folding your arms.

"I'm sorry, comere," He laughed leaning in to kiss you.

"No no," You jerked away smiling, "You don't have to kiss me, I see how it is,"

"(Y/N), I swear to, let me kiss you." He leaned over the seat, pressing you up against the window. 

"'Mm mm." You smirked, keeping your lips pressed tightly together.

"I didn't want it to come to this but," His fingers fluttered over the skin of your neck, causing your mouth to pop open in a laugh. Quickly, his lips landed on yours and gave you a quick kiss.

"That's definitely not fair," You laughed, punch him lightly on the shoulder and nuzzling your cheek against his.

"Surely you've figured out that I don't play fair my dear." He kissed your cheek once more before hopping out of the car.

"See ya later cutie."

***

As soon as Mark was alone in his house, he proceeded to find out what exactly he'd said when he called his friends and family last night. Starting with Wade.

"Hey bud." Wade greeted.

"What did I tell you last night?"

"Am I talking to drunk Mark again?" He questioned.

"I wasn't drunk, I was sick and hopped up on pain meds."

"Ah, well you got really gross and mushy last night." He laughed.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, on and on about how much you looooooooovvvee (Y/N)"

"Oh God."

"Your words, not mine."

"Was that all I said?"

"Pretty much."

"Good, hopefully that's all I said to everyone else too."

"Everyone else?"

"Yeah, I also called Sean and my mom."

"You called your mom?!?" Wade cackled.

"Yeah."

"Ooh boy, she's gonna have a field day with you bud. You went on about wanting to marry (Y/N), and how you were gonna have kids and-"

"Oh my God I'm so fucked."

"I can hear her now 'Mark, why dont you ever tell me about your girlfriends? Is she a good girl? Does this mean you're finally gonna give me some grandchildren?'"

"She does not sound like that, and hey maybe I didn't even mention (Y/N) to her."

"Ha! You'd better hope so. At any rate, I'll leave you to go explain yourself to Sean and then put off calling your mom for a few hours."

"You know me too well."

"Unfortunately." Wade teased. 

The call ended and Mark proceeded to do just as Wade had predicted.

"Hey there lover boy." Sean snickered.

"Oh no. How bad was I?"

"I think you should hear for yourself,"

"Please tell me I didn't leave a voicemail?"

"Three minutes long."

"God, why?"

"Hit me up on Skype and I'll let ya listen."

The two of them swapped over to their computers, Sean playing the voicemail as soon as Mark connected.

"Hey buddy, long time no talk. Do ya remember the other day? You told me to be honest with (Y/N)? Well I was, I mean then. But like, now I'm at her place, and I'm sick as balls, so this could totally be the drugs talking, but I told her that I loved her...  
Thing is, I think she was asleep, so she didn't even hear me... Which is good because I got to thinking," Voicemail Mark paused to hiccup softly. "Have you ever seen Big Bang Theory? It's that show with the science dudes and the science girls and the one girl that doesn't know shit about science but still hangs out with them."

"10/10 explanation," Sean interrupted the voicemail with a laugh, continuing to play it after noticing Mark's silent glare.

"In the show, there's this dorky science guy who is in love with the beautiful non science girl, and he tells her that he loves her too soon, and she breaks up with him.... So, this made me think. I'm a dork. She's not. What if I tell her that I love her, and then she's not ready? Because, it's only been, what? A month or something since we started dating? What if I try and take things too fast? What if I tell her that I love her, and she breaks up with me? I don't think I can handle that. I really really do love her. And I have, absolutely, no idea why or, how, I've fallen so fucking fast, but I have, and it's terrifying, and I hate this feeling. I just want to get it over with so I can get past this horrible nervous me and spend less time worrying and more time actually being present in the moment with her. God I'm such a cheese. I wish-" 

"The voice message system cut you off there, but I'm willing to bet that you rambled on for another half hour." Sean chuckled.

"I hate... everything right now."

"Except for (Y/N), you looove her."

"Fuck off."

"Want a pro tip?"

"Are you calling yourself a pro?" Mark snickered.

"I'm not /not/ calling myself a pro." Sean retorted. "Anyway, if you don't feel comfortable telling (Y/N) yet, give it a few more weeks, maybe she'll say it first, if not then tell her. Either way, for the love of jimminy Christmas, you've got to stop freaking out. It's like you've got a hornet in your ass."

"That was a visual I didn't need, but thanks bud... I think I'm gonna give it a month ... If after that neither of us have said anything, I'm gonna go for it." 

"I believe in you, go getem asshole." 

"Thanks dickwad." 

Now, to call his mom back, Oi vey.

***

"Two sets of harnesses please." Mark smiled brightly at employee. It'd been about a month since Mark had locked himself out of his house. You'd hung out casually a few times since then, but today you were doing something special. He'd been badgering you for weeks to come rock climbing with him, and so finally, with a few playful complaints, you'd agreed to come. 

Thus, here you were, wearing special shoes and, stepping into a harness that-

"Oof! Careful with those straps bud," You laughed as Mark adjusted your harness.

"Sorry sorry, just making sure that it's tight enough." He grinned, sheepishly stepping away once he was satisfied with the fit. 

"What a Casanova," You giggled, following him into the gym. 

"Alright, let's start you out with an easy wall," He walked over to a pair with automatic belay's and hooked the both of you in so that you could climb side by side.

"Alrighty, so do you know what to do or do you want a little lesson or-?"

"I think I can climb a wall fish," You smirked and began grabbing onto foot and hand holds. Shimmying your way up the wall, you quickly began to see why Mark had said this was such a workout. Your arms, were already starting to tingle.

"You're doing great!" He encouraged, taking his next hand hold and pointing out a good one for you.

"Why was I cursed with noodle arms?" You mock cried, still continuing to climb the wall. 

"Noodle arms, the latest and greatest in Japanese porn."

"Oh my gosh, why would you say that?"

"You were cursed with noodle arms, I was cursed with a lack of filter between my mouth and my brain... In all honestly though, I'm willing to bet noodle arm porn actually a thing" 

"Oh God what if it is?" 

Mark had just reached the top of the wall and after tapping the bell, repelled back down to the ground. Tapping your own bell, you looked down to see Mark pulling out his phone.

"I swear to the Italian gods, you'd better not be googling noodle porn down there."

"Noodle arm porn." He corrected, glancing up to smile at you. "Look at you! Up there at the top of your first wall!" He took a quick picture and returned to his phone.

"Hey asshole, how do I get down?"

"Oh, right right, sorry, these are automatic belays, so you just have to let go of the wall, and it'll slowly bring you down. 

Trusting his instructions, you released your grip on the rocks, and sure enough, it lowered you down. When your feet touched the mat, Mark unclipped your harness and showed you his phone screen. Multiple pages of noodle arm porn had shown up in his search.

"You're disgusting." You sighed, leaning into him.

"Yes, but I'm also totally cute right?"

"Oh, oh yes adorable." You rolled your eyes and grabbed his hand. "You gonna take me up a real wall or not?"

"Yeah! I'll take you over to one of the harder wall's and belay you myself."

The second you were clipped in, you began your ascent. Kindly, Mark pointed out good holds whenever you got stuck.

"Mark, what the fuck there aren't any more rocks here!" You growled, noting nothing but tiny pebbles, too small for your fingers to grip.

"You said you wanted a hard wall."

"Right, a hard one, not an impossible wall. How does one rock climb without any rocks?"

"See that little indent in the wall to your left? It's called a flake. You have to grip that with your hands, and use the smaller rocks for your feet."

Taking his advice, you moved your fingers into the indent and tightened your grip on the tiny edge. "This is impossible!" You shouted.

"You've got this! The bell is just a bit further, and if you fall, I've got you." He reassured, giving the rope a small tug to remind you of the direct line that ran between you and him. 

Venturing into the harder terrain, you began sliding your hands up the flake, seeking out the larger footholds when possible. "My arm's are burning." You hissed. Looking up, you realized just how close you were to the top. That being said, your arms were almost ready to give out. "Hey Mark, you've got a good hold right?" 

"Don't worry, I've got you sweetie."

"Okay, brace yourself for impact."

"What?"

Quickly, you leapt for the top, your foot pushing off of the hold and your hands swatting at the bell. A loud ding sounded as you smacked the metal, followed by the creak of rope stretching as you fell into your harness. Caught off guard Mark dug his heels into the mat to keep you from hitting the wall.

"I did it!" You shouted excitedly as you swung from your harness.

"I want to say that jumping is totally cheating, but I'll give it to you." Mark laughed. 

"I'll take it, now bring me down, I wanna race you on one of the automatic belays over there." You smiled.

"Mm, I don't know..." He smirked, looking down at his hand where your rope was wrapped up tight.

"Come ooooon." You sighed, your shoulders drooping backwards dramatically.

"If I let you down, what do I get?"

"I'll tell you what you won't have if you don't let me down." You stuck your tongue out at him and pointed to yourself. 

"You're in no position to pull faces (Y/N)" He winked and tugged at the rope a bit.

"How about, if you let me down, I'll pretend that I like you more than your dog."

"Tempting, but I'll know you're faking it, no one is as adorable as my Chica, not even me."

"Maaaark, pleeeease. the harness is giving me a wedgie," 

"Oh?" He questioned, tugging the rope a bit more.

"Mark Fish fucking I swear to-" Suddenly, the tension was released and you found yourself falling. As quickly as it happened, you landed abruptly in Mark's arms.

"Oh my GOD. You-"

"Handsome, lovable, teddy bear?" He prompted.

"I was gonna go with doofy, jerk, butt sniffer." 

"Aww come on, you love me." He laughed. His eyes widened as he realized what he'd said.

"I do." You reassured with a small smile.

"Really?" He whispered, setting you down. 

"Mm hmm, I, love, you." You wrapped your arms around his neck.

"And I love you," he cooed "Probably too much." He chuckled and placed a hand behind your head, pulling you in closer. You leaned in for a small quick kiss, heart bouncing like puppy paws in the snow.

"You still wanna race me on the auto walls?" He beamed.

"Hellz yah." 

"Hellz?"

"You say stupid words all the time, give me this one." You laughed, walking over to the wall.

"Fine fine... I love you."

"God, you're such a sap."

"I'm your sap."

"Well my sap is about to have his ass handed to him on a silver platter." 

"In your dreams."

"Ready?" You questioned.

"3...2...1..."

Quickly, you reached over, pulling him in by his collar and planting a messy kiss. In his confusion, you hopped away and took to the wall. 

"Now thats cheating!" He laughed, climbing after you.

"Not cheating, a tactical move."

"Oh fuck you!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow... I'm really bad at this whole updating while traveling thing
> 
> Anyway, I'm gonna keep this brief because I'm about to board a plane
> 
> I hope you enjoyed, and if you did, I appreciate any suggestions for future chapters! 
> 
> Xx Ace


	11. No Monkey Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm, looks like our lovely pair is getting closer to thoughts of adult times (whoops)

"Wow, it's getting really late." You mumbled, looking down at your phone.

"Yeah, wanna stay over at my place for the night?" Mark questioned causally. The two of you had finished up at the rock climbing gym and were headed to his car.

"You would like that wouldn't you?" You teased.

"Hey, no monkey business, just two, completely mature adults, hanging out, watching Netflix, and building a blanket fort."

"Did you just say blanket fort?"

"Yeah, we could always do pillows though, if that's more your speed."

"Oh my God I love you." You laughed, gripping his shirt and pulling him in for a brief kiss.

"I'm confused, did you just get turned on by the prospects of a pillow fort?"

"Hey, no monkey business here, just mature adults, kissing and reliving their childhood." 

"Fair enough." He laughed, opening the car door for you.

***

"Hey dingus, don't leave me hanging here! Get me a weight or this whole thing's gonna collapse." 

Mark tossed you a pillow, admiring the work you'd done so far. After gathering every blanket, sheet, and cushion in the house, you'd managed to cover most of his living room in an extensive comfy castle. 

"I think I've got some string lights in the Christmas storage." Mark informed after surveying the progress.

"Excellent! You go get those, I'll make sure the inside is comfy." You continued his thought with a grin.

"I'll grab some snacks too, be back in 5.”

Crawling into the fort, you flicked on your phone’s flashlight and began smoothing a duvet over the flooring. Piling in pillows, you then set up Mark’s laptop and flicked over to Netflix. 

“Do you care if Chica joins us?” Mark questioned, popping his head through the doorway and shoving in the things he’d gathered. 

“Not at all.” You smiled as you began stringing up the lights. 

“Okay, so for snacks, Ive got Pringles, microwave popcorn, Oreos, miniature doughnuts, and movie theater candy.” He grinned at the spread.

“Holy shit, how do you keep so much junk food in your house and manage to stay so fit?”

“I dunno, maybe its my sheer awesomeness… or maybe its because Ryan and Matt usually eat it all before I get the chance.”

“Ah, so them being away is both a blessing and a curse.” You smirked.

“Yes, a blessing for my mouth, and a curse for the rest of my body.”

“It’s okay, I’ll still love you, even if you’re 1000 pounds and bedridden.”

“Thats very sweet of you.”

“I try.”

“I know, you know what else I know? Its movie time."

***

“Mmmmmmm” 

You were jarred awake by a low moaning. Prying your eyes open, you examined the situation. Half way through watching Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, you’d fallen asleep on Mark. Judging by the way his arms were curled around your waist and his right leg was draped over you like a body pillow, he’d fallen asleep at some point too. Chica who’d passed out over both of you, also seemed bothered by the noises Mark was making, and in response, wandered out of the fort to find a place for peace and quiet.

As you shifted to try and go back to sleep, you’d found something hard press up against your leg. Mark released another low moan, causing you to stifle a laugh. He was having a sex dream. Gripping one of the pillows, you used your free arm to whack him over the face. Waking with a jolt, he floundered away from you.

“Woah what, what time is it?” he groaned.

You glanced down at your phone. “4 am, you having fun in there?” You tapped his forehead.

“What are you talking about?” His voice was groggy as he rubbed at his eyes.

“You were moaning awfully loud, I think your little friend was enjoying whatever you were dreaming about.” Even in the dark, you could see the blush ripping across his face.

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes little fish.”

“Hey, my…fish, is not little.”

“I wasn’t talking about your dick Mark.” You smacked him again with the pillow.

“Ow!” He picked up his own pillow, smacking you right back. 

“Careful where you swing that thing,” You laughed, clambering out of the fort, Mark hot on your heels.

“Ill swing my thing wherever I want!”

“You are just full of innuendos tonight.” You smacked your pillow into his crotch and leaped onto the couch.

“Woah woah, balls are off limits!” He squealed, doubling over for a moment until the pain subsided.

“What were you dreaming about that got you all hot and bothered?” You questioned, as he pulled himself together.

“Nothing important.” He blushed again, charging towards you to distract from the topic. Quickly, you leaped to the arm chair, causing Mark to plow into the couch.

“Aww, is someone ashamed of how kinky they are?” You whacked his back and ran behind the fort.

“Pfft, no.” He spluttered, throwing his pillow at you. Not fast enough, it hit you in the face, sending you to the floor.

“Wow, thats quite the throw you’ve got there.” You mumbled, trying to pull yourself back to your feet. Unfortunately, he was too quick, and before you knew it, he’d straddled you and pinned your shoulders to the ground. 

“Come on fish face, tell me what you were dreaming about, you woke me up, the least you owe me is an explanation.”

“I uh… I mean It was nothing special, just a wet dream.”

“Do tell, was I in it?” You waggled your eyebrows playfully.

“Yes.”

“You horny little shit!” You snickered. He let go of your arms in favor of crossing his. 

“Oh don’t be a child (Y/N), It’s not like you’ve never had one.”

“Touche… how about this, Ill tell you about one of mine, and you tell me about yours.”

“Fair enough.” He conceded, standing up and helping you to your feet. “In the fort?” 

“I would be disappointed if we didn’t.” Padding back over to the entrance, the two of you crawled in. Your head fell naturally into the crook of his shoulder, his arm snaking around your side to lock you together like two pieces of a puzzle.

“Who’s first?” You questioned.

“It was your idea so, I think you should start us off.”

“Alrighty, lets see… Mm, one time I had one about Robert Downey Jr., Tony Stark to be more exact.”

“Aah, so you have a type.” Mark laughed.

“I do?”

“Yeah, you like brown eyes, dark hair, and astonishing levels of intellect.”

“Oh fuck off, you’re no genius, Mr. I’m gonna beat you down the water slide because I’m heavier.”

“Hey now, I let you beat me.”

“Mm, just like you let me beat you up that rock wall today.”

“Exactly.”

“Anyway, it was in Stark tower, over the desk in his lab, pre chest arc reactor removal surgery.”

“So you have a desk kink?”

“Is that even a thing?” 

“Sure it is.”

“Well then, it’s your turn, and me and my desk kink want to hear all about it.”

“Well, you left out a lot of details, so I intend to take the same liberties, it was you and I, back at the water park, in the...public restroom,” He gulped.

“Really?”

“Mmhmm, and at one point, uh, someone came in and saw us…” He trailed off,

“Fucking like rabbits?”

“You’re so graphic!” 

“And you have a public sex kink!”

“Why are we having this conversation?” He groaned.

“Because its 4 am and we’re both horny and sleep deprived.”

“I mean…we could fix that first part.”

“No no, I’ll let you have your way with me in a public bathroom later, right now we need some sleep.” You laughed, kissing his cheek softly.

“Okay, but, not in a public bathroom… at least not the first time.”

“Well I’ll just let you plan out all the gory details of our first time, how’s that sound?” You snickered.

“It sounds to me like you get really comfortable with sex talk at 4 am.”

“I’m always comfortable with sex talk, I’m like, the queen of it.”

“Since when?”

“Goodnight Mark.”

“Since WHEN?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this update took so long! Thank you for being patient with me :)
> 
> Do you guys want me to include legitimate smut in the story? Truth be told, Ive never actually written it before, but I'm willing to give it a go if you'd like. 
> 
> Big thanks to Skinny-Stick for requesting the fort and pillow fight :) I had fun writing those!
> 
> And as always I appreciate every single comment and kudos, even if you have a criticism for me, it really only makes me a stronger author, so don't be shy in the comments section ;)
> 
> Xx Ace


	12. We Two Shit Lords

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Picnics, sneaky pictures, and bit of miscommunication.

When Mark awoke the next day, he quickly found himself to be dissatisfied with the lack of body heat leaned against him. You'd already woken up and were currently cleaning off in the shower. As he searched the house for you, he heard the water running and knocked lightly on the door.

"(Y/N), you in there?" 

Suddenly, the water shut off and no more than 20 seconds later, you'd hopped out, wrapped a towel around yourself, and pulled open the door. 

"Good morning gorgeous." You grinned, squishing his cheeks in your hand and giving him a quick peck.

"Whuh suh tipuh?" He spat a bit as he spoke, causing you to realize that you still had his cheeks in your grasp. Letting go of his scruffy face, he massaged his chin and repeated himself. "As I said, why so chipper?"

"No reason, it just feels like a good morning."

"You're too cute for your own good." He laughed, pulling you into his side and kissing your wet hair.

"Oh you, speaking of cute, you know what else is cute? Breakfast. Wanna go get some?" You questioned, wrapping your arms around his torso and looking up at him with excitement.

"Counter idea, how about we pack some stuff for a picnic, and enjoy breakfast at the park?"

"Counter counter idea, we get pancakes from IHOP to go, and eat them in the park." You grinned.

"Sounds good, go get dressed, I'll be waiting on the couch." He smiled, giving you a quick kiss and heading downstairs.

Seeing as you didn't exactly have any extra clothes over at Mark's place, you put on what you'd worn yesterday, and frolicked down the stairs and out to Mark.

"I'm ready to go, but first," You draped one of your legs over the couch and into his lap. "Feel my legs." Curiously, he ran his hands over your freshly shaven legs.

"Very smooth," he chucked. "Wait, did you use my razor?"

"I did."

He sighed and tossed an arm around your shoulder. "We need to bring some of your stuff over here."

***

Having picked up your breakfast, the two of you were now sprawled out on a blanket next to an ornate fountain. 

"These are the best pancakes I've ever had in my entire life." He moaned, stuffing another syrupy bite into his mouth.

"I think you're just really hungry." You laughed, not denying how very much you were enjoying this. As you glanced over at him, you couldn't help but notice the way that the early morning sun was glistening against the deep brown of his eyes. This was photo worthy.

"Smile." You prompted as you pulled out your phone.

"What?" *snap* You giggled at the picture you'd taken. 

"That's gonna be your new contact photo." 

He leaned over to look at it.

"I look beautiful." He laughed, complimenting his mouth full of pancakes and confused expression. "Why is my contact name still Merk?" He questioned.

"Is there something wrong with Merk?"

"No but, I have you in my phone as Queen (Y/N) with like, five different heart emojis."

"That's because I put myself into your contacts as that!"

"No, I added 3 of the heart emojis."

"Do you want some heart emoji's Mark?"

"And a classy title, like, Lord Handsome."

You rolled your eyes and tapped something new into the screen. "How's this?"

"King Fish <3," He read aloud, "I like it!" 

You laughed lightly and returned to your pancakes.

"Hey (Y/N)?" He questioned, catching your eyes.

"Hmm?" Your response was muffled by your most recent bite.

"We've been dating a few months now right? I was just curious... How long do you want to wait before we become an... official couple, Internet wise." 

You swallowed the food in your mouth, your eyebrows scrunching up. "Hmm, I hadn't given it much thought." You shrugged your shoulders.

"How about now?"

"What?" You dropped your plastic fork back onto your plate in surprise.

"I don't know, they've already got a vague idea that were dating what with how often we hang out, and-"

"I don't know Mark, don't you think we should wait like, I dunno, a year or something before telling them?"

"Why? I don't foresee us ending things in the near future do you?"

"Well no but-"

"Then what's there to be afraid of?"

"Nothing I suppose."

He took your hands in his, squeezing them and giving you a genuine smile. "I don't want to pressure you into anything, so, whenever you're ready, I'm game, but just think about it."

"Okay," you smiled, squeezing his hands back. "Why are you suddenly so adamant about this?"

"Honestly? I don't know, I just feel this, overwhelming swelling sensation in my chest every time I see you, even if it's just in a video, I'm excited to share that sensation with my subscribers."

"My God that was so corny, commere." You laughed, gripping the collar of his shirt and pulling him closer. 

"Excuse me?" Both of your heads flipped towards the voice of two teenage girls, grinning like mad. Instantly distancing yourself from Mark, you gave them a welcoming smile. "(Y/T/N) and Markiplier right?" The shorter girl asked, containing a squeal.

"In the flesh." You affirmed. 

"Could we get a selfie with you?" The taller asked excitedly. 

"Of course." Mark beamed, pulling you up with him and leaning into the girls. They each took a photo and put their phones away. 

"Thank you so much." They thanked in unison and ran off.

"How long do you think it's gonna take to find that selfie on the Internet?" Mark questioned, pulling out his phone.

"I give em 3 minutes, 4 if they need to find some Wifi." 

Breakfast was lovely, and after a semi heated debate about the merits of cooking fruits and chocolate into pancakes, vs sprinkling them on top, you'd both agreed that it was about time you got home and went back to recording.

"I'll see you later fish." You grinned, kissing the corner of his mouth and standing to leave.

"No no, I want a real kiss, commere." His hands shot down to your hips, jerking you towards him. Catching and holding your eyes, his hands darted to your face, falling on the nape of your neck and your chin. Pulling you in, he chewed lightly on your bottom lip and sent a hand down to squeeze at your butt.

"Woah woah, public place," You pulled back at his attempt to make things more heated. "Ease up on the sex eyes, I know you're a very kinky man but there are children here." You patted his cheek with the palm of your hand and wriggled out of his grasp.

"Okay look-" He tried to explain himself but you cut him off.

"It's okay Mark," You smiled and glanced down at your phone. "Its probably time that we both head home and get to work." 

"O-okay." He stuttered. 

You pulled him in for one last warm hug before walking off.

"Hey, do you want a ride?" He called after you. 

"No thanks, I'm just a few blocks away."

"Alrighty, see ya later." He swallowed the regret in his throat.

"Bye Mark."

"Bye...Mark?" He mumbled to himself. "How badly did I just fuck up?"

***

Two days later, you still hadn't heard anything from Mark. Which was odd, because he was the type to send good morning texts everyday. The doorbell chimed in the background of your thoughts pulling your wandering mind back into the present. 

Padding to the front door and glancing through the peephole, you couldn't see anyone there. Cautiously you opened the door and looked around. At your feet was a large bouquet of perfectly red roses. Your face lit up as you scooped them into your arms and buried your nose in their overwhelming fragrance. Stepping back inside, you put the roses in a vase and picked up your phone.

You: Thank you for the roses! Where did romantic Mark come from?

King Fish: found him in my basement

You: So you admit that you have a murder basement?

King Fish: What? No? I thought we were past the "Mark's a serial killer" phase

You: Cant ever be too careful

King Fish: Right, there are some real creeps out there on the Internet.

You: Sometimes, you end up dating those creeps

King Fish: You're seeing someone else? :0

You: Yeah, this weirdo named Markiplier who went silent for two days without explanation.

King Fish: In that weirdo's defense, you also went silent for two days

You: Yeah, but, I thought you were upset with my shutting you down and so I was trying to give you some space

King Fish: I was trying to give you space! 

You: Well... It appears we've reached our conclusion...

King Fish: We're both idiots who need to learn to talk things out?

You: So it would appear.

King Fish: we're all good then?

You: absolutely, I don't think we were ever not good

King Fish: I have a proposition, so that these sorts of shenanigans don't happen in the future

You: ?

King Fish: We come up with a word for the future, like, platypus or something, and if either of us ever says it, we know that the other person is upset about something and they actually need space

You: Fair enough, platypus works for me

You had just set your phone back down when your text tone sounded again.

King Fish: So, side note 

He sent you a link to a Twitter post. Clicking over to it, you were met with a picture of the two of you kissing in the park. Who took this? Oh.

You: Those girls!

King Fish: Yuh huh

Jumping back over to Twitter, you examined the photo further. Thousands upon thousands of likes, retweets, and replies. 

You: Well then. Secrets out?

King Fish: You okay with that?

You: Yeah

King Fish: You want to make it more official though?

You: What did ya have in mind? 

King Fish: QnA? Maybe make a sketch out of it. 

You: Be over in 30? 

King Fish: I'll be waiting for you my queen

You: *eye roll* Nerd

***

As promised, 30 minutes later, you were over at Mark's house, camera in hand. You didn't even have the chance to knock on the door before he opened it, instantly wrapping you in a hug.

"Oh my God I missed you," he murmured into your ear.

"Bab, It was two days."

"Two days of utter loneliness."

"But you have roommates." You giggled, reluctantly pulling out of his hug and following him inside.

"Not for long, they're moving out."

"Really?"

"Yeah, then I'll really be all alone."

"You have Chica." You smiled, petting the golden retriever as she flounced over to you.

"That's true, my lil Chica bica would lever leave me." He cooed, squishing her cheeks around and kissing her nose.

"So then Sir, shall we get to filming?" 

"Right right, yeah... You sure you want to do this?" He questioned, standing back up and snaking his arms around your waist to pull you into his front.

"I'm sure if you're sure."

"But... I'm not sure, that's why I was asking you?" He whispered.

"Fine, then I'll be sure for you, let's go film."

***

"Whuh?" Mark slurred, popping his head into frame on camera, and holding a phone to his ear. "No, I saw the photo, it's fine, we just have to erase their memories." He explained, throwing his voice around and tossing in a few goofy faces. “Uh huh. Yah. Alright. See you in a few”

Quickly, you popped into the screen.

“W -ow! That was a fast! Did ya bring the memory eraser?” He questioned dramatically.

“I did!” You held up a pinwheel taped to the end of a nerf gun and aimed it at the camera. “Look deep into the heart of the pinwheel.” You instructed the viewers, squinting your eyes and pursing your lips in concentration. Very slowly, Mark leaned in to the pinwheel and gave it a soft blow. After watching it rotate for a few seconds, you dropped the gun and pulled out your phone.

“Shit. They didn’t forget, now what?” You questioned, snapping your head up dramatically.

“I guess we have to make a vlog.”

The video cut over to the two of you sitting on a couch. 

“Hello everybody! My name in Markiplier and this here is my… my girlfriend?”

“Holy shit biscuits!” You gasped.

“I’m sure by now you guys have seen the infamous photo of us thats been circulating around the internet.” He pointed to the corner of the screen where the photo popped up for a few seconds.

“You little nerds spread that shit like wildfire, so, to quiet our more obnoxious than ever twitter feeds, we’re making this video.” You explained

“Because we know, there are going to be thousands of questions, we decided that now would be a good time to answer all of them, so we took to Twitter and with the hashtag #ShipsAhoy asked you to send us your questions.” 

“First question, where did you meet?” You read from your phone. “You wanna take this one Captain Klutz?” 

Mark’s face went red. “We were at a Vidcon party a few months ago, and uh” He trailed of.

“Fish face here spilled his drink all over my dress.” You finished.

“It was practically love at first sight.” He snickered despite himself.

“Next question, does this mean we’re gonna get lots of cute Mark and (Y/N) videos?” You read. “I mean, potentially, I don’t think us being public is going to necessarily change how often we record with each other.” You answered.

“Where was your first date?” Mark laughed at the question, “I’ll let you try and take this one.”

“Well, to be honest, neither of us actually knew that our first date was a date, we had just recorded a video together, and were hungry, so, we went out for lunch at this little mom n’ pop diner, and, then Chica nearly killed me, and before we knew it, we were in love.” You recalled your first ‘date’, laughing a bit as you explained.

‘What were your first impressions of each other?” He read. 

“Can I be honest?” You laughed.

“I think I already have an idea of what you’re going to say.” He covered his face in shame.

“Very first impression, I thought he was an absolute asshole.”

“Oh God!” Mark groaned, clutching his heart in mock pain. “I’m never going to live that meeting down.”

“It’s okay though, because when I had the chance to actually meet you the next day, we got on really well and I thought you were pretty cool.”

“See kids, even if someone thinks you’re an asshole, theres always a chance for redemption.” Mark chuckled, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and pulling you closer. “My first impression of (Y/N) was, holy shit, she’s so beautiful and I just pissed her off.”

“Aww, okay enough cheese, next question.” You looked down at your phone. “Do you guys have a ship name yet?”

“Oh God not the ships!” Mark screeched.

“We’ll leave that up to you guys,” You laughed.

“One more question, do you have nicknames for each other?” 

“Mark is really generic with his nicknames, he uses Beautiful, Queen, and Cutie a lot.”

“What? Like fish is better than anything I’ve come up with?” He snickered.

“It’s natural, flows off the tongue, and really holds it’s own in the sentence ‘Fuck off Fish’” 

“Asshole.” He tickled the side of your neck, causing you to squeal and slide off of the couch.

“Anyway, thats all the time we have for today, you can check out (Y/N)’s channel if you want to see we two shit lords answering more of your questions.” 

“Buh Bye!” You laughed, jumping into frame and tackling Mark. 

“Ah shit wait!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm SO sorry! Its been so long since I updated, I swear I'm good at this whole writing thing! 
> 
> Thank you guys for all the kinds comments, it really means so much to me (It's what keeps my ego afloat xD)
> 
> If you have any suggestions for future chapters, please leave them in the comments, hopefully I'll get back to updating every week!
> 
> Lot's of love,  
> x Ace


	13. Can You Un-Die for a Few?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small time skip brings lifestreams, video games, sick cuddles, and "The talk"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Notice* 
> 
> There is a time skip in this chapter, and the reader does get sick, but she is not pregnant. 
> 
> That is all, go forth and enjoy you fabulous ray of sunshine.

After the videos of you two went public, your subscribers seemed more ecstatic than surprised. Maybe you weren't as good at hiding things as you'd thought. 

You'd now been dating nearly a year, and despite what you'd said, the two of you definitely filmed together way too often. In fact, you were currently in the middle of a livestream with Mark. 

"(Y/N)?" He questioned again.

"What?"

"You zoned out for a second there, you all good?"

"Yeah sorry, let's get back to kicking robotic ass." You had a gross feeling in the pit of your stomach, like a solid, heavy lump was just sitting there, unmoving. Only an hour left of the livestream though, you were probably fine, just needed something to eat. Casually fending off the droves of robots, you used your free hand to reach into the chip bag.

"This is war! No time for snacks!" Mark screeched, slapping your hand lightly and grinning.

"It's never a good idea to try and decapitate bots on an empty stomach." You explained, none the less setting aside the chips. You really weren't feeling them anymore, in fact, at this point, you were pretty sure if you tried to eat something, it would come right back up. Just one more hour.

"You alright there cuteness? You're being uncharacteristically quiet." 

"Yeah, I'm all good."

He glanced over at you, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Don't look away! No distractions! This is war dammit!" You shouted, pushing down the grossness and trying to maintain an interesting banter for the stream.

"I need to make sure all of my soldiers are okay." He chided, returning his attention to the screen, but still using a hand to feel your forehead. "Okay, no, you have a fever."

"Mark I'm fine," You swatted away his hand and focused on the game.

"Fever (Y/N)."

"Later Mark."

“You're so stubborn." He rolled his eyes, at the camera. "Look little bear, even the viewers agree that you shouldn't be playing if you feel sick!" Mark cooed.

Darting your eyes over to the comments section, you could see streams of 'are you okay?'s and 'you can end the stream early's.

"I'm fine guys, don't even worry about it." You mustered a smile as the level ended. You stood up to celebrate your victory, but something odd shifted in your stomach, and knowing what was about to come, you darted out of the room.

"Shit." Mark murmured watching you run out. "I don't think (Y/N)'s feeling very well, so I'm gonna end the stream here, we'll pick this game back up later, I promise. Buh bye." He gave a quick wave and cut off the stream. Running into the bathroom, his heart sank, seeing you with your head over the toilet. Quickly stroking your hair out of your eyes, he rested a hand on your back and rubbed gentle circles. He'd missed the worst of it. Resting your forehead on the rim of the bowl, you released a sigh and rubbed at your eyes in an attempt to wipe away some of the grossness that you were feeling. 

"You didn't have to try and lie to them, they understand that people get sick." He whispered.

"I know." You lifted your head to look at him. 

"Aww sweetie, commere." He wrapped his hands around your back and the top of your head, and pulled you into his chest. In the aftermath of heaving your lungs out, you weren't about to protest. Digging through one of the cabinets from his position on the floor, he extracted a thermometer and popped it into your mouth.

"I don lik ben thick." You spluttered through the thermometer.

"I know, it's alright." The thermometer beeped and he pulled it out. "Mm...102, we need to cool you down." Setting the instrument down on the counter, he pulled himself to his knees, scooping you up in the process. Gently, he carried you across the hall and into his bedroom, where he set you down on the fluffy duvet

"I'm gonna go get you an ice pack and a bowl so that you don't have to get up if you need to - Chica no!" The golden retriever bounded into the room and up onto the bed next to you. 

"It's okay." You assured, pulling her close and nuzzling into her velveteen fur. 

"Alright, I'll be back in just a minute." Mark chuckled.

Running a hand through her copious amounts of fluff, you wrapped your arm around her and pulled your head up to rest on her side. Mark had recently given her a bath, so she smelled like oatmeal and bananas. 

"I'm back baboo." Mark set the large Tupperware bowl down on the dresser and pressed the ice pack to your skin, making you jump. "Sorry sorry." He moved it slightly and layed down on his side, also resting his head on Chica. "I'm sorry your sick." He murmured.

"Thanks, I actually feel a lot better now that I got it all out of me." You draped your free arm over Mark's waist and tugged him a little bit closer.

"I'm glad." He kissed your forehead, his eyes shining with adoration. 

"Do you want to go finish the stream?" You questioned, moving to sit up.

"Nope, I already shut it off, we're gonna stay right here and you're gonna fall asleep." He explained, lifting his head as Chica attempted to squirm out from underneath you two. Resting his head on the pillow, he wrapped both his arms around you, pulling your chest up against his and breathing softly into your hair. It didn't take long for your eyelids to droop and stick together. The last words you heard as you fell asleep were the gentle "I love you" that Mark whispered against your skin.

***

You'd awoken an hour ago, throwing up again and rinsing your mouth out with the water that Mark had placed on the nightstand. Not finding the will to go back to sleep, but also not wanting to disturb Mark who was passed out across your lap, you took to your phone for some entertainment. The second you opened Twitter, you were bombarded by a hailstorm of notifications, some from friends, most from viewers. 

@JackSepticEye: Heard about what happened on the stream, hope you're feeling better now @(Y/T/N) :)

That was sweet of him. The two of you had really only hung out once or twice, but through Mark and YouTube recording sessions, you'd become decent friends. 

@(Y/N)'sSweetBaboo: Om! Are you okay @(Y/T/N)? Mark better be taking good care of you ;) 

You glanced down at the sleepy man in your lap, he was something special.

@Mort3mer: Want me to bring you some soup ;P I make a mean chicken noodle 

You laughed under your breath, soup actually sounded pretty good right now. You hadn't eaten anything in a while, and your last meal hadn't really stayed down. 

Somehow during your Twitter session, you'd wandered into the fandom part of the Internet, and onto a site called ao3. Someone on your Twitter had linked you to a story that they'd written about you and Mark, which had then led you to your ship's tag, which had then led you to Mark's tag, and onto the story you were currently skimming about Mark's supposed alter ego, Dark. Even imagining your Mark as 'evil' forced you to release a small laugh. Mark jumped in surprise at the noise, darting upright and cranking his eyes open.

"What? What's up? You okay?" He stammered, groggy eyed.

"Nothing nothing, sorry." You hushed, gliding a hand over his head. With a big yawn, he leaned against the headboard next to you and rubbed at his eyes.

"Whatcha doin?" He patted at the nightstand until he found his glasses.

"Nothin." Quickly, you attempted to switch internet pages but he caught you and swiped the phone.

"Oh my God are you actually reading fanfiction. What even is this?" His eyes grew wide as he read, the sleep quickly melting from his face. "Holy shit I just killed someone!"

"Technically, your alter ego killed someone, but it was all for love so."

"Wait wait slow your roll, what happened?"

"Well evil you-"

"Darkiplier?" He cut you off.

"Yeah Dark. Dark was obsessed with a girl who regular you...Mark, was dating. So Dark you killed Mark and attempted to take his place, and it started to work but people were noticing differences in Dark's personality, so Dark started killing them and-"

"Holy shit! My evil alter ego just got laid." Mark butted in again.

"Wait really? Let me see!" You attempted to grab the phone but he held it just out of your reach, instead choosing to read it aloud.

"Oh Mark, don't stop please! I cried, my toes curling in ecstasy. He pulled back, his voice dropping and his eyes hiding behind a cloak of black. No please, call me dark. He growled." Mark slumped down onto the mattress, handing me back the phone and trying to hide his giggles. "It's so terrible yet so amazing." He covered his face with one of his palms and snatched the phone back.

"What are you doing?" I questioned, slumping down next to him and peering at the screen.

"I'm willing to bet that people have written fanfiction about us." He explained as the Google search results came up.

"Mark no!"

"Mark yes!" He chuckled, clicking the first link to pop up. "Holy shit there's so much of it."

"Don't do it." 

"Ooh, this ones called Seeing Stars, and there's a NSFW warning!" 

"Aww why wo- Hold that thought." You mumbled, leaping out of the bed and running to the bathroom.

"(Y/N)?" He questioned, jumping towards the bathroom and dropping the phone. "Oh sweetie," He whispered kneeling down next to you. Gently, he smoothed his hand over your back, never applying too much pressure, just repeating the soothing motion until you were done.

***

“Maaaaaaark.” You whined, flopping your legs over the arm of his couch. You’d managed to go a full 5 hours without a single toilet run, and as a result, he’d promised you some food other than juice and toast. 

“Cool your jets I just have to put it in a bowl.” He called from the kitchen. A moment later, he’d returned to the living room with some Ramen noodles and ginger ale. 

“Finally, something with flavor!” You instantly dipped your spoon into the bowl, sucking up some of the broth. “Oh my God I’m dead. Ive died and gone to soup heaven.” You moaned as he handed you a Playstation controller. 

“Mm, well can you un-die for a few hours so that we can play overwatch?” He questioned, pulling up the game.

“Sure sure. But only if I can be reaper.”

“That is a compromise I’m willing to make.”

***

You played for far longer than you cared to admit, and somewhere along the way, the clock had struck 4 am. Noting how late it was, you’d turned down the game volume and leaned into Mark. 

“You wanna go to sleep?” He questioned, rubbing your shoulders. 

“Not really, but we probably should.”

“We dont have to yet, we could just…talk.”

“This isn’t the stone ages Mark, we have technology, we don’t have to talk.” You laughed lightly.

“oonga boonga, me talk talk now now to you you?” He grunted, tickling your sides. With a screech, you leapt out of his arms and towards the stairs.

“Come back back pretty girl girl. Oonga boonga just want talk with you.” He shouted, his caveman voice drowning in his own laughter. Taking the stairs two by two, he caught up with you and swept you up into his arms. 

“Mark!” You screeched as he carried you into his room and tossed you onto the bed. Flopping down next to you, he poked your cheek and grinned.

“Oonga boonga talk to pretty girl girl now?”

“Only if oonga boonga learns 21st century grammar.”

“Oonga boonga can do that.” He smiled, kissing your cheek.

“What did you want to talk about.”

“Nothing in particular. Just, wanted to have a nice sleep depraved chat.”

“Well Mr. Marky Mark, fortunately for you, I am a professional talker.”

“Not as professional as me, I have more subscribers and thus am more professional.”

“Oh you’ve got me by a couple hundred, boo hoo.” You mock cried. 

“Thats a couple hundred people who think I’m more professional than you.”

“If I recall correctly, you made a video a few months ago where you stared at a banana for 5 minutes.”

“Like I said, professional.”

“Well Mr. Professional, seeing as you asked me to talk, I can only assume that theres a question or subject that you specifically wanted to bring up.”

“There might be.”

“Please, do elaborate.”

He released a breath that he didnt know he was holding and shut his eyes momentarily to collect his thoughts. “We’ve been dating for a year now right.”

“Almost.”

“Right, almost, and I’ve been trying really really hard not to pressure you, and still, definitely don’t want to pressure you, like, at all, I’m just curious.”

“About?”

“Well…it seems like, every time I try to… take things further, you shut me down, which, I get, if it makes you uncomfortable but you make a lot of jokes, and you do things that, admittedly drive me up the wall crazy and I dont know if you’re doing them on purpose to drive me nuts or if its just an accident but-“

“Holy balls Mark, spit it out.”

“Why haven’t we had sex yet?” He forced the words out of his mouth. 

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

“Dammit I’m sorry.” You sighed, pressing your palms into your eyes.

“No no, its okay, I’m not saying we have to, really its, whenever you’re ready I just-“

“No I’m sorry, I really really want to...have wanted to,”

“Then, whats stopping you?”

“I dunno, negative past experiences? An unhealthy dollop of perfectionism? Unnecessary attachment issues? Take a guess.”

“Perfectionism, no wait, negative past experiences… can I phone a friend?”

“This isn’t who wants to be a millionaire.” 

“But if it was, I wold have just won, wait, we went off topic.”

‘We’re really good at that.” You sighed, rubbing at your tired eyes. “You know what, I love you, and I trust you. Surprise me, you can sex me up any time, and I promise, I won’t shut you down.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“Just no public sex yet, you kinky bastard.” You nudged his shoulder to lighten the mood.

“I heard a yet in there.” He grinned, wrapping his arms around you. 

"Oh fuck off," You slapped at his chest and rolled over in the bed. It didn't take long for him to octopus back onto you, pressing up against your back and draping his limbs over top of you.

"I love you" he whispered.

"I guess I love you too or something."

"Fuck you." He snickered, pulling you in tighter and kissing the back of your neck. Your shoulders scrunched up at the light tickle of his beard and you snuggled back into him. 

"For what it's worth Mark, you're a damn good cuddler."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at that set up! My brain is already working on ways to orchestrate the upcoming smut chapter. Hopefully the time skip wasn't too much for anyone, but, I gotta keep the story moving and I can only write so many awkward dates. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! If you have an idea that you'd like added to the story, leave it in the comments :) I respond to everything. 
> 
> Also, I'm heavily considering bringing the pretend Darkiplier fic to life. In writing this, I accidentally created a concept that I like (oops)
> 
> Anyway, I must dash, Pokemon Go beckons me! Places to be, Pikachu's to see.  
> x Ace


	14. *Easy There Space Boy*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You'd had a talk, you knew what to expect, but somehow, you were still nervous. That being said, you were never one to let your nerves stop you from getting what you wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *** SMUT WARNING ***
> 
> From here on out, the titles of all chapters containing smut will include an asterisk (*)

“Why won’t they die?” Mark screeched, swatting at the air, Vive controllers in hand. 

“10 seconds.” You snickered, watching him flail around the room, trying to ward off aliens. 

“Aaaah! That’s not possible!” He whirled around to punch the alien behind him, nearly smacking you across the face.

“Easy there space boy, you almost hit me.” You spluttered, pushing him further from you. "Times up!"

He chuckled quietly as he lifted the headset off of his eyes and up onto his forehead. Turning back around to look at the camera and screen, his jaw dropped. “How the hell did you beat me?” He gasped at the scores on screen, crossing his arms and pouting his bottom lip. 

“What can I say, I'm a winner.” You bumped your hip into his, causing him to drop the controller. Mumbling a quick sorry, you leaned over to pick it back up. His eyes widened looking at your current position, but the camera was still rolling, so he elected not to act on it.

***

“Hey (Y/N), do you want pizza or chinese?” Mark questioned, leaning into the living room where you were currently editing a video. 

“We had Chinese food last night.” You reminded. If you were being honest, at this point, you spent more time at Mark’s house than your own. 

“Pizza it is.” He chuckled and plopped down next to you, pulling out his phone to order. Instinctively, you leaned into him. As your head fell onto his shoulder, your hair tickled his neck, causing him to shudder a bit, but he was hungry, so he elected not to act on it.

***

A few hours later, the pizza had been demolished and you were now in a heated battle of Mario Kart.

“Fuck you! What the fuck was that blue shell for?” He screamed as you passed him and stole the victory. 

“Eat my dust!” You laughed, jumping off of the couch and shimmying your hips in a small victory dance. “I win, you suck!”

“God, you’re such an asshole!” He snickered, standing up and patting your butt lightly.

“No you a ass hoe.” You laughed, grabbing onto his t-shirt and pulling him into you. 

“Woah hey hey.” 

“No you hey hey, I know you were supposed to initiate this but dammit, I’ve given you so many opportunities today and you’ve missed all of them.”

He remained silent, trying to figure out what you meant… oh “OH!”

“Oh is right, jeez Mark, I pulled out every sex kitten stunt I could think of, even the ol drop something and pick it back up.”

“Geez, sex kitten? Now who’s the kinky one?” He smirked.

“Obviously not you if I couldn’t even get you to rage fuck me after Mario Kart.” You snickered, slapping his chest and letting go of his shirt.

“Well excuse me for trying to be a gentlemen and waiting a few days before acting on our agreement, what happened to all those nerves you had before?” 

“They’re still there, that’s why I want to get this first time out of the way, so that I don’t have to be nervous anymore.”

“Get it out of the way? Forgive me, but I don’t think thats how sex works.” He laughed, snaking an arm around your waist and tugging you onto the couch with him.

“Gosh, I know.” You sighed, clapping your hands over your face.

With a reassuring smile, he pulled you onto his lap and wrapped you in a tight hug. “I don’t want to do anything until I know you’re ready.” 

“I’m ready dammit! Maybe get it out of the way wasn’t the best choice of words though.”

“Ya think?” He chuckled, softly patting your thigh. “Come on, let’s play another round.” 

“No.”

“No?” He questioned.

“I’m ready now.”

“(Y/N), I don’t think thats the be-ooh” His eyes flew shut as you rubbed your ass against him. “Oh thats not fair.” He groaned, squeezing your thighs to try and regain his mental control.

“Fuck me Mark.”

“No.”

He was fighting a losing battle, and you both knew it. Just one more roll of your hips and-

“Okay you know what?” He growled, leaping to his feet and cinching his fingers around your hips. Hurriedly, he backed you into the wall, his eyes meeting yours. “This what you wanted?” His voice had dropped a full octave.

“Absolutely.” You whispered, cupping his cheeks and pressing his lips against yours. Regardless of how quickly you’d gotten him to snap, the kiss still had a softness to it. You'd kissed him many times before, but this one was different, he was being careful, using every touch to read you, and determine how the next one could be better. Just as your lips were beginning to melt into his, he pulled back, changing course and ghosting his kisses just underneath your jawline. Tilting your head back with a single finger, he moved further down, letting his teeth graze your skin as he dipped onto your neck. Wandering hands smoothed over your shoulders and down your arms, stopping at the hem of your shirt and lifting slightly.

"Too much-" he nipped at your collar bone, "-clothing." 

Dropping your hands down from his back, you helped him guide the shirt up over your head. Leaving one last nip on your neck, he leaned back to admire his work.

"Stunning." He whispered, his eyes venturing down to your bra.

"Ah ah, you want to take this off, you've gotta take something of yours off." You chided, running a hand over his chest. Not even blinking, he ripped his shirt up over his head.

"Good lord." You squeaked, your hands gravitating to his sides and tracing the definition with your thumbs. 

"Your turn." He smirked, and you realized just how cocky he was getting. You couldn't be having any of that, so plucking up your usual brand of courage, you shoved him backwards onto the couch. Reaching behind your back, you unclipped your bra and let it drop to the floor. His jaw went slack as you stepped forward and straddled his lap. 

"That was the hottest thing you've ever done." He murmured as you leaned over to kiss his neck.

"Oh it gets even better." You whispered into his ear, and you could feel his entire body shudder as you did. Chewing lightly on his earlobe, you had to pull away in a gasp as he pinched one of your nipples. Massaging your breast with one hand, he slid the other down to unbutton your pants. Looking up at you for permission, he worked his fingers down into your jeans the moment you gave him the go ahead.

"You're not wearing any underwear." He groaned. It took him seconds to find your clit, forcing a gasp out of you, and causing you to grind against his fingers.

"Fuck." You hissed, forcing your eyes back open to look at him. "Wipe that smug ass expression off your face." You ground a little bit harder and this time, it was his turn to moan. Removing his hand, he stood up, pushing you up with him. Quickly, you dropped your pants and removed the annoying amount of distance between the two of you.

"Can I interest you in a room with a much softer surface?" He questioned, tugging at his zipper, and letting his own pants fall to the floor. 

"Yep." You breathed, crashing your lips back into his and forcing him back towards the steps. You could feel his erection pressed against your stomach as you pushed him backwards up the stairs. Just as you reached the top, you tripped over him, sending him onto his back, with you landing on top. He let out a startled moan at the sudden pressure and friction. 

"Oh shh" He huffed, his hips bucking against you. Every time you tried to pause the kiss for a breath, he pulled you right back in, seemingly unable to handle any amount of distance between your lips. When finally you managed to break away to stand up, his lips were swollen and his eyes glossy. 

"Why are you still in your boxers?" You questioned, dipping your fingers into the waistband and giving it a solid snap. He yelped slightly at the hit, but was too eager to get you into his room to care. The second you were through the door, his hands landed on your shoulders and he walked you backwards to the bed. The second your back hit the mattress, there he was, hovering over you with lust dripping from his eyes. Immediately, his hand dropped to between your legs, palming at your most sensitive spot. Moaning slightly, your fingers curled into his scruffy hair, pushing his head down to assist his hand. It didn't take him long to get the memo, his tongue circling you. Almost simultaneously, two of his fingers plunged into you and his lips circled your clitoris, keeping a steady pressure as he sucked. 

"Almost mmmmMMark" You whimpered, your toes curling around the sheets. Without warning, he added a low humming to his other motions, and before you even realized what was happening, he had sent you over the edge. Moaning and shaking, your whole body tensed up as wave after wave of explosive euphoria surged through you. 

After the pleasure died down, you opened your eyes and glanced up at him. He had a large smirk on his face, he knew what he'd done. 

"That was, wow, but," You rocked your hips, to relay what your brain was too overloaded to say. He let out a deep chuckle, reaching down and tugging his boxers off of his hips. 

"Hold on, let me just grab a-"

"We're good, as long as you're clean, the contraceptive side is all taken care of." You interrupted, desperate not to wait if you didn't have to.

"Well then," he grinned, hands running across your stomach, up over your breasts, and landing back down at your sides. Your breath caught in your lungs as you felt him line himself up. Then, quickly and without warning, he thrust into you, forcing all of the air out of your lungs along with a long, low moan. Your eyes went wide as he filled you up, you, bottoming out after just one thrust. 

"Okay, don't move, or I might explode." You stuttered with shaky breath. Carefully, you allowed yourself to clench around him. He moaned as you did so, taking this as his permission to move. In and out, every time driving in deep.

"Fuck me." He hissed, hair flopping into his face as he continued. It didn't take him more than a few thrusts to pop his hand down to your clit and begin massaging uneven circles. With each thrust, a new wave of euphoria shot through you, prickling the ends of you nerves. Heat began to collect in your stomach, daring to ignite with every move he made. That combined with the sounds that were falling from his mouth were putting you dangerously close to orgasm again. 

"You're so tight around me, I'm not gonna last much longer if I keep this up." Mark panted, his free hand lifting from your waist and onto your shoulders.

"Same." You whispered, gasping as his change in position changed his trajectory and angled him straight into the golden spot. 

"Th-There!" You cried, hands dropping from his hair down to his wrist where they clamped on tight. One last pop of his hips and you were done, nails digging crescent moons into his wrist as your tumbled over the edge. Each wave of ecstasy caused you to tighten around him, giving him that extra push to fall apart. Spurts of warmth filled you even more as he moaned into his high. Your eyes popped open for the last few seconds, just long enough to see his muscles shuddering above you. 

With a contented sigh, he fell on top of you, arms wrapping around you, rolling himself onto his back and you on top of him. 

"Do you want to move in with me?" He whispered, keeping your buzzing skin pressed tight against his.

"You're asking me this now?" You laughed.

"I fucking love you so much, why not?" He lifted his hands up to behind your head and pulled you down to meet him in a soft kiss. 

"This could be the dopamine talking but I fucking love you too, lets do it." Rolling off of him, his arms curled around your waist.

"But first, big spoon needs some cuddles."

"It's the middle of the day."

"What, are you somehow opposed to doing nothing for the rest of the day."

You chuckled lightly, pressing back against him with a little shimmy. "Not at all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! My first time writing smut... that was much harder than I thought it was gonna be. Hopefully you guys enjoyed it though! If you want a few more smut chapters in the future, let me know (don't worry, they won't permeate the story too much) 
> 
> If you have any suggestions, or just want to shoot me a little virtual smile, I read and respond to all of my comments, they genuinely make my day! 
> 
> Hope you have a great week,
> 
> X Ace


	15. Our Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader is finally moving into Mark's place, what sorts of shenanigans might this lead to?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Massive apologies for the wait, this extra long chapter is my apology! Hope you enjoy :)

"That's the last box." Mark smiled, dropping it onto the floor of his apartment. 

"Geez, I have a lot of stuff! If I have to lift one more thing I think my fingers are gonna pop off."

"What are you talking about?" Mark chuckled, wrapping his arms around you from behind. "I did all of the heavy lifting!” Your feet hovered over the ground as he picked you up, running over to his couch and dropping you on it. 

"What do you mean? I carried plenty of heavy stuff."

"Ah yes, I forgot how heavy feather pillows are." He laughed, kneeling over you. 

"Hey, a pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of bricks."

"Flawless logic my dear." He rolled his eyes, resting his hands on your shoulders. "I will say though," he continued "I'm beyond happy to get to wake up next to you every morning."

"Me too, you're almost as fun to cuddle as Chica." You laughed, palms resting on his chest. As your laugh faded, the room went silent. His eyes shifted up and down your body, a tinge of lust highlighting his soft eyes. Gently, his hands dropped to your hips as he adjusted his weight.

"Oh not now." You complained, swatting away his hands.

"Why?"

"Mark, I haven't shaved my legs in like, a week."

"Don't care." He murmured, cutting off your protest with a kiss. How he managed to be so persuasive with just one kiss was beyond you, but like always, it wasn't hard for him to win you over.

Sighing, you pulled back from the kiss and draped your arms over his shoulders. "Alright fine, but only because you wore a tank top today."

"Glad you noticed." He smirked, tightening his biceps to showboat a little bit. 

"Of course I noticed now commere." 

***

"Mmmm" you rolled over in Mark's, and now your's too, bed. There was a tinge of disappointment though when your human space heater was no where to be found. 

Swinging your legs over the bed, and realizing that you were still completely naked from last night's 'adventure' you picked up the first shirt that you could find and threw it over your head. It was Mark's dogiplier t-shirt, a bit of his scent lingering on the collar where he tended to mist his cologne. 

Plodding down the steps, a sweet smell drifted past you. Mark was the best, you sighed. 

"Good morning sleeping beauty." Mark bellowed, his concentration remaining on the stove. Curious, you walked over to him and set your arms on his waist as you peeked around him. 

"Cinnamon rolls! You're literally the best." You grinned, sticking a finger out to catch some of the icing as he dripped it onto the rolls. 

"I know," He beamed, kissing the top of your head and shimming out of your loose grip. Setting down the icing cup, he licked his fingers and turned to face you. His jaw dropped a little as you picked up a roll and turned to face him, biting in and smiling. 

"This is so good." You groaned, your voice muffled a bit by your breakfast. 

"You know what else looks good, you, In that shirt- are you even wearing any underwear m' dear?"

"Nope," You laughed, turning and shaking your ass a bit. 

"You're never allowed to wear anything but that ever again." He grinned, patting your butt and reaching over you to grab a cinnamon roll for himself.

"Psh, if I did that, you'd be pestering me all the time and we'd start fucking like rabbits, no one wants that."

"Okay, I might want that."

"No you don't, rabbits are reproductive, but not productive, you're too much of a workaholic, you couldn't handle the constant distraction of this fine ass." You smirked.

"Sex is productive."

"Don't you have a video to record or something?"

His eyes widened at your reminder. "Shit! I don't have anything ready for my second video!"

"Well get to it then." You chided, handing him two more cinnamon rolls and patting his back as you licked the icing off of your other hand. 

"You have stuff to record too right?" He questioned as he walked towards the kitchen doorway.

"Yeah, why?"

"I've got three game to record, so you do your stuff now, and then later we're gonna go out and do something."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I'll think of something." He smirked, and with that, he slipped through the doorway and shot up the stairs. 

***

You'd long since finished recording your last  
video, and had now set about unpacking some of your stuff. His... your, living room was cluttered with cardboard boxes and black trash bags stuffed full. In theory, you didn't have a lot of possessions, but when compared to Mark's sparsely decorated ex bachelor pad, you'd just brought a mountain's worth of things into his... your, home. 

You were half way through your second box, when two firm arms wrapped around your waist, followed by his legs which settled on either side of your's.

A small giggle escaped you as his hands fell over your eyes.

"Guess who?"

"Mark, who on earth would it be but you?" 

"Witches and thieves?" 

"Well yes, I suppose that it would be quite concerning if a witch were to break into your house."

"Our house." He corrected, dropping his hands down to your shoulders and massaging lightly.

"Right...our house." You couldn't help the small smile that drifted onto your face as you repeated his words. The lovely massaging stopped as he draped his arms around you in a warm, squeezy, hug. 

"I love you, so much." He murmured into your neck. His eyes drooped shut as he nuzzled in, his scruff tickling your shoulder. 

"I love you too." You responded with a contented sigh. "Did you finish all of your recordings?" You questioned, resting one of your hands over his.

"I did, I also decided on an adventure for the rest of our day."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, are you ready to go?"

"Well yes but, are you not going to tell me where we're going?"

"No no silly, it's a surprise." He laughed, letting go of you and standing up.

"Why would you leave me like that? You were so warm." You whined playfully, accepting his hand as he pulled you to your feet.

"Don't worry, it's plenty warm outside here in the great state of California." He chuckled, grabbing his keys from their peg by the door.

"Hey babe," You snickered, giving him a once over.

"Hmm?"

"You're in still in recording attire." 

"What?"

"You're not wearing any pants."

His gaze dropped from you, to the ground where sure enough, he was still in his boxers.

"Mm... That explains why I was feeling so free and breezy." He blushed lightly, running over to the stairs to prevent a public indecency fiasco.

"Wear your black jeans, they make your ass look good!" You called after him.

"Stop objectifying me (Y/N)!" He screeched, laughing to himself as he opened his dresser. While rooting through it, he couldn't help but notice the small velvet box hidden beneath his pants. His chest swelled with adoration at the thought.

"Not yet" he whispered to himself, covering the box and pulling on a pair of pants. Moments later, he was back downstairs, where you were patiently waiting.

"Ready to go?" He questioned, picking his keys up once more and opening the front door.

"Of course." You grinned, noting that yes indeed he had worn the black pants.

***

"Can I open my eyes yet?" You questioned impatiently. 

"My answer is the same as it was 30 seconds ago."

"No, stop asking, or I'll make you listen to Darude Sandstorm on repeat?" You recalled.

"That's the one."

"Maaark."

"We're almost there, don't be such a whiny baby pants."

"What if I just opened my eyes right now anyway?"

"Noooo, don't do that!" He chided, placing one of his hands over your eyes.

"Why do your hands smell like Skittles?"

"Wha- do they really smell like Skittles?" He questioned, removing his hand and giving it a sniff. Instantly, you popped your eyes open, but there weren't very many recognizable landmarks.

"My hands don't smell like Skittles, he mumbled, glancing over at you. "You dirty dirty little cheater!" He gasped, coving your eyes again with his hand. 

"Just tell me!" 

"Patience is a virtue young Padawan."

"You're not Yoda."

"Virtues of patience you must have."

"That was the shittiest Yoda impression I have ever heard." You snickered. 

"Fuck you!"

After a minute, the laughter settled and your breathing evened out. It didn't take but a moment more for you to pester him again.

"Are we there yet?" 

"Goddammit!" 

***

"Are we-"

"Yes! We're here." He sighed, holding in a laugh. As soon as his hand fell from your face, your eyes burst open to scan your surroundings. Well landscaped surroundings, banners of exotic animals,

"We're at the zoo!" 

"Lions, tigers, and bears for my little honey bear." He smiled, pulling into the parking garage. 

"How long did it take you to come up with that one?" You asked, jumping out after he'd parked the car. 

"5 minutes or so." He snickered, curling his fingers around yours to lock you to him. After a minute or two of searching, you found the elevator and called it to you. 

When at last it arrived, the two of you stepped in, you slumping against the wall as Mark went to press the button. Except he didn't just press one button. Glancing back at you with a devious glimmer in his eye, he proceeded to slide his hand down over them, lighting the panel up like a Christmas tree.

"Dammit, why?" You sighed, trying to un press the buttons to no avail.

"That's what you get for trying to peek when we were in the car."

"But this is a punishment for you too!" You reminded, rubbing at your eyes in mild frustration. He was about to respond, when the gentle humming of the elevator stopped, the doors remaining shut.

"Mark?" You questioned as he moved for the panel. Rapidly, he pressed the 'open door' button, to no avail. Quickly, he sidestepped to the doors. His fingers attempted to wedge between them, but they refused to budge. 

"Huh... mistakes may have been made."

"Oh my God, did you actually break the elevator?" You couldn't help but laugh despite your annoyance.

"I didn't do it!" He defended with a reserved chuckle.

"Only you could manage this my dear." You sighed, pressing the emergency call button. "Hello?" 

But no one answered.

"How did this even happen?" He complained, pressing the 'open doors' button for the hundredth time. 

"You confused it." You snickered, pulling out your phone. "It's okay though, I'll just call the zoo and have them get us out."

"Or." He smirked, snatching your phone and sliding it into his pocket. "You could admire me and my tight jeans until your sexual frustration builds to a point where you have to have me right here in this elevator." He suggested, fingers brushing along your jawline. You weren't sure if he was being serious or not, but the glimmer coming from the ceiling corner of the elevator answered his request for you.

"Cool your jets hot pants, there's a security camera in here." 

"Dammit!" He growled, leaning into the wall with a pout on his face. 

Kissing his cheek, you slipped your phone back out of his pocket and googled the zoo's number.

***

"When are they gonna get heeeere?" Mark whined from the spot he'd chosen to sit in the corner. 

"The woman said 10-15 minutes." You reminded.

"And how many minutes has it been?"

"Just under 2."

"Fuck!" 

"You complain, but you're the reason we're stuck here in the first place."

"In my defense," He paused, glancing over at the wall of illuminated buttons. "That was really fun."

"Well now you have to deal with the consequences of your brief joy." You snickered, slumping down into his lap. He frowned at you dramatically, squinting his eyes into a glare. You were about to comment on his grouchy face when his mood did a 180 and an excited smiled ghosted over his face.

"I've got an idea!" He beamed.

"Oh?"

Fishing in his pocket, he pulled out his phone and opened the camera app. "We should vlog today!"

"Where'd this idea come from?"

“What better time to vlog than when we’re trapped in an elevator?"

“I mean every other time but, whatever floats your goat babe.” You rolled your eyes and rolled off of his lap to give him camera space. Holding his phone at arm’s length, he pressed the record button.

“Oh my goat is floating, in fact its the most buoyant goat.”

“Really? That’s how you’re gonna start your vlog?” You snickered, leaning into frame.

“Who died and made you queen of vlog intros?”

“Me, myself, I did.” 

He shot you a confused look before returning his attention to the camera. “Anyway, today, (Y/N) and I are in an elevator.” He paused to smile awkwardly.

“Are you gonna tell them why?”

“Nope.”

With a sigh, you snatched the phone from his hands. “Dr. Dickbutt over here broke the elevator at the Zoo, so now were stuck until the mechanic comes.” 

“I’m gonna edit that part out later.” He giggled, stealing the camera back. Just then, the elevator whirred back to life. 

“We're saved!” You exclaimed, jumping to your feet as the doors opened. An apologetic employee was standing on the other side.

“Sorry about that folks, this elevator hasn’t ever broken down before, I don’t know what could have caused it.” She explained. You smirked at Mark, who’s face had dropped. 

"It's alright, thanks for getting it working so fast." You smiled, taking Mark's hand and leading him out of the elevator. Once you were out of earshot from the employee you couldn't help but snicker.

"That elevators never broken before." You whispered smugly.

"Asshole."

***

"How much would I have to pay you to jump in there with those lions?" Mark asked, directing the camera over to you.

"All of the monies."

"All of them?"

"Yeah, but I'll jump in with the meerkats for free."

"Those meerkats would eat you alive sweeetie."

"No they wouldn't."

"They absolutely would." He snickered, wrapping an arm around your waist. "Ooh! Let's go get some cotton candy!" He exclaimed, instantly letting go of you in favor of running to the snack cart.

"Mark! Wait up!"

***

The zoo had been tons of fun. You'd both gotten a lot of great vlog footage, and eaten way too many sugary sweets. Now, you were back home, snuggled up beneath Mark's fluffy duvet. His bed had become something of a comfort to you, and most nights, you could fall right to sleep as soon as you hit the mattress. But tonight, you weren't sure if it was residual anxiety from moving or something entirely unrelated, but you just could not shut your brain off into sleep mode. Normally, you would get up and grab something warm to drink in hopes of lulling yourself to sleep, but Mark had something of a vice grip on you, and you didn't want to wake him up. So, with an audible sigh, you scrunched up your eyes and tried to will yourself to sleep for the hundredth time.

"(Y/N)?" 

His voice out of the dark was startling to say the least, you couldn't help but jump out of your skin. 

"Sorry sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Mark whispered.

"I thought you were asleep." You replied, rolling over to face him.

"I was waiting for you to fall asleep."

"What...Why?"

"Because I can't fall asleep until you do." He explained, adjusting his hold on you and running his hand over the curve of your spine. "It's a long story, and probably a little bit creepy, I'll tell you later." He kissed the top of your head. 

"No no, you can't hint at a story and not tell it, that's like torture." You whispered, snuggling in closer to him and tucking your cheek up against his chest. 

"Well..." He sighed into your hair. "I've always had some issues with sleep, but it's been especially bad the last few years, however, and this is the creepy part..." He paused to find his words. "When you sleep, you have this really soft, adorable, almost a snore noise that you make," He traced gentle circles on your jawline. "And I don't know how, or why...but it puts me right to sleep."

"Aww, that's kinda cute, and you're right a little bit creepy." You snickered quietly. 

"So the question is though, why are you still awake my dear?"

"I... I dunno." You mumbled, "I'm just having one of those nights where I can't get my brain to shut up," you admitted. 

"Ah... maybe I could help you fall asleep."

"What did you have in mind?"

There was a beat of silence as he formed his thoughts.

"Mark?"

"Did your parents ever sing you lullabies when you were little?" He questioned softly.

"Sometimes," You responded, crinkling your eyebrows in curiosity.

"Which ones?"

"Mm, twinkle twinkle little star, rock a by baby, the usual ones I suppose... Why?"

"Well, when I was little, and mind you my parents weren't much for singing, but they could always put me to sleep with this one song." 

"What was it?"

"How about I let you try and see if you recognize it?"

Softly, he began humming. The soft noise vibrated from his head into yours, sending little sparks of happiness down through your body. Quickly you recognized the song, pressing deeper into him as to be enveloped by the vibrations. He smiled at your response, kissing the top of your head.

_Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high, and the dreams that you dreamed of, once in a lullaby_

You couldn't help but melt into his voice, drinking in the lyrics and reveling in the sleep deprived growl that had meshed with his usual tone. 

_Someday I'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me_

He nuzzled his nose into your cheek, his mouth so close to your ear that his voice filled you entirely. His singing was so soothing, that you couldn't help it when your eyelids drooped close, or when your jaw began to slack.

_Where trouble melts like lemon drops, high above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me_

You weren't really sure at what point his voice faded, or how long it was before you were fully asleep, but it hadn't taken long. Soon, your faint snuffles filled the room, lulling the tired man beside you to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW! It's been almost a month since I last updated! I'm super sorry, but on the plus side, this chapter was twice the normal length :)
> 
> I feel bad about waiting so long between updates without being able to give you guys any info on when the next update will be out, so I created a Twitter where I can post info about update times. If you'd like to keep up with my work, my user is @TheLongestWord You can also feel free to leave me suggestions or just talk to me there :)
> 
> Big thanks to Taetryinin24 for suggesting the Zoo date!
> 
> And as always, if you enjoyed, any amount of feedback, whether a comment or a kudos, makes my day! 
> 
> Thanks a million for reading,  
> X Ace


	16. Because You're a Masochist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark's been addicted to Amazon Prime, and you would totally stage an intervention, except, sometimes he gets something cool.

"Hey babe," You shouted, pulling a large package into the house.

"What?" You heard him shout from upstairs.

"I think I need to cut off your Amazon Prime subscription, this is the thirteenth package this week." You yelled. At the word package, he came barreling out of his room and down the stairs.

"It's here!" He screeched, tugging it across the room and flinging it onto the kitchen counter.

"What did you get this time?"

"You're gonna love it, just wait." Excitedly, he pulled a knife out of the block and sliced his way through he packing tape.

"You said that about the rainbow glitter cowboy hats and the glow in the dark dildo too." You snickered. 

"No no, you're actually gonna like these" he beamed, pulling two large fluffy pillows out of the box.

"Pillows? I must say I'm a bit disappointed that it's not a glowing butt plug to match the dildo." 

"That's a good idea..." He mumbled to himself. "But don't worry, these aren't any ordinary pillows." Excitedly, he flipped them around. Scrawled on them in a swoopy black letters were the words 'big spoon' and 'little spoon'.

"Oh my gosh, these are actually amazing!" You giggled, taking the little spoon one from him and squeezing it. "And super soft too, like a little square cloud."

"I know right-oop." He slapped his hand down to his back pocket.

"Your butt's vibrating." 

"I know that!" He screeched, pulling out his phone. "It's my mommy." He giggled in his little kid voice.

"Dork."

"Hey mom, yeah I'm doing good, how are you? That's good. Yeah I'm with (Y/N)" he pulled his phone away from his ear. "She wants to talk to you." You nodded and he pressed the speaker button. "Alright mom, she can hear you now."

"Hi Mrs. Fischbach." You beamed. 

"Hello sweetie, how are you?"

"I'm good, how are you?"

"Good good, but I would be better if my son would finally bring you to come visit me." 

"Is that the only reason you wanted to talk to (Y/N)? I told you I'll bring her to meet you soon." Mark explained.

"Good good, just making sure she knows that you can't marry her until I've met her." 

"Mom!"

"Be sure to keep a good hold of her too Mark, you're not getting any younger and I'm still waiting on those grandchildren."

"I'm hanging up now mom."

"Okay okay, l love you."

"I love you too." He sighed, a genuine smile on his face.

"Bye Mrs. Fischbach!"

"Goodbye sweetie, take good care of my son, he's a bit of a troublemaker." 

"Will do!" And with that, the call ended. "Your mom's so cute."

"I know." He grinned, picking up the pillows and walking them towards your bedroom. "You won't believe how often she asks me about meeting you."

"Well it has been over a year,"

"I know... Do you wanna go visit her this weekend?"

"How spontaneous of you."

"Well it's not like we have anything better to do, and you heard the woman, she needs some grandchildren."

"This coming from the man who express orders glow in the dark sex toys."

"I'm curating a tasteful collection."

"Curating? Tasteful?" You stammered.

"Dildos are the diamonds of the 21st century."

"Mm hmm, well if you ever do propose, make sure you don't do it with a silicone dick."

"Duly noted." 

***

"Come on noodle arms! Fifty more!" You shouted, whistling through your teeth as Mark completed his 50th push-up. 

"Why am I finding drill sergeant (Y/N) so attractive?" He panted.

"Because you're a masochist, now keep going."

Mark had decided to take your new pillows for a test nap, and somehow managed to sleep through his appointment with his personal trainer, so now, you'd taken it into your own hands to keep him from skipping a day. It wasn't that you minded him missing his workout, it was more of you not wanting to hear him complain about how 'lazy' he is for the rest of the day. 

"I'm tired." He groaned, flopping onto the ground.

"I didn't say you could stop."

"Motivate me."

"How?-wait!" A lightbulb went off in your head and quickly, you lay down on your back.

"What are you?-"

"Push-ups on top of me, every time you go down, you get a kiss, and if you manage to woo me, you might get to go down on other parts of me later."

"I love you so much." He laughed, hoisting himself up and over top of you. 

"Fifty three." You grinned, pecking his lips as he came down.

"Fifty four." Another kiss. You could tell he wasn't feeling as tired anymore, and pretty soon, he began to show off. Lifting one arm off of the ground, you could see the veins in his arms bulge out a bit as he came down for another kiss. 

"You're so sexy." You whispered, biting down a bit when he came down for his next kiss. 

"Oh you can't be doing that." He moaned, bringing his free arm back down to cradle the back of your head and planting his knees on either side of your thighs. 

"I didn't say you were done."

"Yeah well change of plans, last 25 reps are being canned in favor of a more pleasurable workout." And with that, he dropped his mouth down onto your neck.

***  
"That, was a fantastic." Mark sighed, running his hands down your back and over the curve of your ass.

"Yeah... But I feel kinda gross now." You snickered, peeling yourself off of him and resting a palm on his sweaty chest. 

"Wanna go hit the showers?"

"Only if you join me." You grinned, the accompanying wink present in your voice.

"I have every intention of doing just that my beautiful." He laughed, chasing you into the bathroom

"Bath or shower?" You questioned, leaning over the faucet.

"Is shower sex on the table?"

"Nope, I'm all sexed out."

"Bath it is, do you have any more of those cool little bath bombs?"

"Yeah, I think I put them in the bottom drawer." You snickered, running the water to fill the tub. 

"Oh my gosh can we use this purple one?"

"Sure, I think that's the one that's supposed to smell like grape soda." 

"Hellz yeah!" He giggled, dropping it into the water once you'd filled the tub. His eyes went wide, mesmerized as always by the foaming spinning blob of color. "Ooh! I've got one more thing for it!" He exclaimed, running out of the room.

"Mark! You're naked, don't run by any windows!" You shouted after him.

"The neighbors have seen my junk before, nothing new!" He screeched back.

"Not something you should be proud of sweetie!" The water was a lovely color, but still somewhat stagnant, so you pulled a bottle of bubble bath out and swished some around in the water. A few moments later, Mark returned, holding something behind his back.

"Pick a hand."

"Mm, the left one." 

Excitedly, he revealed a rubber duckie in a cowboy hat. "That means I get the one with the space helmet- ooh! You added bubbles, fuck yeah!"

"I thought you might like those." You grinned, admiring the duck before setting it on the edge of the tub.

"You know what else I like?" He questioned stepping closer to you and wrapping his arms around your bare back.

"Small ducks in funny hats?"

"Well yes, but also, you, the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." He whispered, leaning in for a short kiss. One of his hands darted up to cup your head, and you could feel him rub gently up against your leg.

"Bubbles now, round two later." You whispered, breaking away from the kiss to meet the eyes of a red faced Mark.

"Sorry, I got carried away." He blushed, grabbing your hand as he stepped into the tub and sunk into the foamy purple water. You were quick to join him, turning to sit between his legs while your back rested against his chest. 

"It's so warm." He commented, moaning a bit as the water soaked into his skin. You nodded happily, scooping some of the bubbles into the palm of your hand and molding them onto your chin. 

"What are you doing?" He questioned, leaning around you to see your face.

"Who am I?"

"Every single historical dude with a beard ever." 

Quickly, you added some more bubbles to the top of the head in a pillar esc shape.

"Ooh, Abraham Lincoln!" He shouted excitedly.

"Bingo."

"My turn." He exclaimed, scooping some of them up and creating a masterpiece on his own face. "Okay who am I?" He had built his hair up into spindly spirals using some of the bubbles, and given himself a bit of facial hair.

"Einstein?" You guessed.

"Nailed it!" He laughed, squashing his hair back down and stealing some of the bubbles off of the top of your head. 

"Hey, those are my bubbles, get your own." You grumbled playfully. 

"Well, I have the cooler duck so that means I get dibs on all of the bubbles." He stated matter of factly, picking up his duck and squeaking it in your face.

"No my duck is cooler!" You defended, grabbing the little cowboy duck and giving it a kiss. 

"Mine's an astronaut, all you've got is that lame little cowduck."

You gasped in mock horror and pretended to cover the toy's ears. "Why are you being so mean to him? He never did anything to you!"

"He most certainly did, look at that face." He took the duck from you and held it inches away from your nose. "That's the face of pure evil."

"You're the face of pure evil." You snickered, squishing his cheeks in your palm until his lips were nice and puckered. "I love you." You whispered, kissing his squished lips before releasing your hold on his face. 

"I love you too." He murmured, kissing you again now that his lips were no longer being mangled. "Want me to wash your hair?" He questioned, picking up the shampoo. 

"Sure," you grinned, turning around so your back was to him again. With a splurch, he squeezed out a puddle of shampoo and rubbed his hands together to coat his palms. Gingerly, long callused fingers began working their way through your hair. He was gentle and methodical with the way he did it, kneading small circles into your scalp. After he'd sufficiently coated the top of your head, he massaged his fingers down to the hair on the back of your neck. "Mmmark," You moaned, your eyes sealed shut by bliss. 

"Your voice is so beautiful." He whispered. Kissing your back before running his soaped up hands down to your shoulders where he continued his massage. "Now lean back for me sweetie." He cooed, cradling the back of your head as he dipped it into the water to rinse out all of the soap. Grabbing a towel from the floor next to the tub, he patted the the water away from your eyes. 

"Mm thanks," You smiled, picking up his shampoo and squeezing some into your hands. "Your turn, lean over a bit for me."

He was quick to oblige your request, groaning softly as your fingers nestled into his hair. If was soft between your fingers, like little wisps of cotton candy. Carefully, you rubbed down all of the short stuff, using your fingernails to lightly work the soap in. Next you ran your hands up to the tuft of red on top, coating it throughly and tugging a bit just to see the blissed out look on his face as you did so. Once he was all soaped up, you guided his head back into the water to work out all of the suds. 

"You have magical little fingers." He murmured as you wiped the water from his eyes. 

"I try." You grinned, kissing his nose.

***

You played with the bubbles and ducks for a few more minutes before getting out and helping each other dry off. Walking into your room, you opened up the middle drawer of his wardrobe and pulled out one of his t-shirts and a pair of his boxers. 

"You're so cute." He beamed, grabbing the same things for himself and slipping them on. Happily, he leaped onto the bed, snuggling into the fluffy duvet.

"Hey babe?" You snickered.

"What?"

"You're on the wrong side of the bed." 

"Huh?" He turned around and looked down. Beneath him was the swoopy writing of the little spoon pillow. "Oops!" He snickered, moving over. 

"No no, you're the little spoon now." You laughed, shoving him back over and laying down next to him. 

"(Y/N) I hardly think you'll be very good at being the big spoon." He laughed.

"Wanna bet?" You questioned, crawling under the covers with him and wrapping your arms and legs around him like an octopus. 

"You're supposed to be a big spoon not a big squid." He laughed.

"Don't even worry about it, I've got this." You murmured, wrapping your arms around his torso and pressing your cheek against the warmth of his back. 

"That's a little bit better."

"Do you feel sufficiently spooned?"

"I feel a lot of things right now, I'm not sure if spooned is one of them." 

"Feel the spoon Mark."

"Are you actually going to go through with this?"

"Yeah bitch, I'm the big spoon tonight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah? Did I really just update twice in one week? It's a miracle! (All writing miracles curtesy of a 12 hour car ride)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed :) If you did, I would sincerely appreciate it if you took the time to leave me a kudos or a comment!
> 
> Have a great week my loves!  
> X Ace


	17. Satan's Waterfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fun with Momiplier, a surprise guest, and talk of rings (I don't mean on the phone)

"Is everything all loaded up?" You questioned, pulling the front door shut.

"Yep, you dropped Chica off at the kennel right?" 

"That I did."

"Then off we go." Mark beamed, draping an arm over your shoulders and placing a kiss on your head. 

The week had blown by fairy quickly, and much to Mark's mother's delight, you were on your way to Cincinnati. 

"Take this left."

"No, (Y/N) I know how to get to the airport, it's the next left."

"You're wrong."

"I am absolutely not." He quipped. Rolling your eyes, you opened up your gps.

"Make the next legal U-Turn" The device rang out. 

"I told you." You snickered. 

"Why must you emasculate me like this?" He chuckled, rolling his eyes and searching for a spot to turn around. 

***

"Babe." A warm hand gently shook your shoulder. "Sweetie you need to wake up."

"Mmm, did we land already?" You questioned, forcing your sleepy eyes open.

"That we did, if you wanna grab your backpack from under the seat, I've got your bag."

"Thank you" You yawned, grabbing your things and slipping out of the airplane seat. 

Quickly, the two of you made your way through the airport to passenger pickup. As soon as you'd stepped foot in the room, your ears were ambushed by an excited motherly squeal.

"Mark!" A small Korean woman engulfed your boyfriend in a tight hug. 

"And you must be (Y/N)!" She gasped, letting go of Mark and resting her palms on your elbows in a distant hug. "You, are beautiful." She grinned before whipping her head in Mark's direction. "Don't mess this up son."

"Scouts honor," Mark chuckled, wresting his arm on your waist and leading the three of you towards the airport exit.

***

The drive back to Milford had been interesting. Mark's mom was incredibly sweet, but she asked a lot of questions, and you were fairly certain that her opinion of you was resting on your answers. When finally you made it to her house, you were worn out, and luckily, Mark had noticed. 

"I'm gonna go show (Y/N) our room, and then I'll come help you cook dinner." Mark had explained before leading you down the hall to a chipped white door.

"Fair warning, this is the room I grew up in, and it hasn't been remodeled in a long time, so, go easy on it."

"It's fine babe, my childhood bedroom still has boyband posters up in it."

"Now that, I want to see." He laughed, letting you into the room. It was fairly spacious for a kid's room. A double bed sat comfortably in the middle, a navy blue comforter tucked loosely into place. A handful of posters for various video games were tacked up on the walls and a small collection of action figures were neatly arranged on the dresser.

"Aw, this is cute." You smiled, setting your things down in the corner and dropping down onto the bed to do an incognito comfort test. 

"Yeah, I've got some fond memories of this room." He smiled.

"Do any of those involve your hand and a tissue?" 

"How dare you insinuate that I-"

You cocked a disbelieving eyebrow and his face fell into a laugh. 

"Okay yes, yes that is a thing that definitely happened." He chuckled, plopping down next to you. As the bed shifted, a string of pain curled around your torso and tightened. Oh no.

"Where's the bathroom?" You questioned, picking up your backpack, well aware of what that pain might be signifying.

"Just across the hall, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be back in a second." Quickly, you scrambled into the bathroom to do a check. Much to your dismay, your suspicions were confirmed, blood. With a sigh at how early you were, you opened up your backpack and rooted around for the tampon that you kept stored there, except, it wasn't there. Shit. Wrapping your underwear in toilet paper, you scampered back into the room and began rummaging through your suitcase. 

"Fuck me, I knew I'd forgotten something." You sighed, slumping onto the floor.

"What did you forget?" He questioned, sitting down next to you. 

"Any thing that could possibly absorb the wrath of Satan's waterfall."

"Aw, sweetie." He cooed, rubbing gentle circles into your shoulders and kissing your temple. "I'll run to the store and grab you something." He cooed.

"Thank you, you're the best." You gave him a half hearted smile and pulled yourself to your feet.

"Be back in a few, I'll tell mom to leave you alone if you wanna take a little nap." He beamed, shutting the door behind him as he left.

***

Curtesy of the devil's personal brand of cramps, you hadn't managed a nap, and instead had resorted to sitting on the floor in fear of staining the bed. Luckily, it hadn't taken Mark long, and soon enough, his cute little head had quietly popped through the door to see if you were awake.

"I've got the goods." He grinned, walking in and tossing a pack of pads your way.

"You remembered to get the right brand!" You paused to grin at him. "You're the best." You thanked him, kissing his cheek before running off. 

A few minutes later, you returned to the bedroom, where Mark was sitting, waiting contentedly for you. 

"Thanks," You smiled, sitting down next to him. He was quick to pull you into his lap, letting his hands fall to your stomach where he very gently massaged the soreness away. 

"No problem, I've got a few more things for you to." He whispered, spinning you in his lap to face him. 

"Oh?"

The first thing he picked up was a pair of his sweatpants. Of course, they were the baggy grey ones that you liked so much because they had a loose waistband. "Something comfy so you can get out of your jeans, even if they do make your butt look marvelous." He chuckled, giving your ass a light squeeze before reaching into the plastic grocery bag behind him. 

"The best candy in the entire universe." He smiled, handing you a king size pack of your all time favorite. "Some pain relievers and caffeine free tea." He set the items down on the bed and wrapped his arms around you so that his hands rested on your lower back. "And I put some frozen pizzas and Ben and Jerry's in the freezer downstairs." 

"You're too much." You grinned, kissing his nose. 

"If my dick were bleeding, I would expect the same from you." He snickered, stealing a real kiss from you. "My mom's got a pot of vegetable soup on the stove downstairs, you wanna go eat?"

"Yes please, I finally get to try some of Momiplier's famous cooking." You grinned, popping up. 

As soon as you'd stepped foot in the Kitchen, a magnificent smell flooded your nose.

"Did you have a good nap?" Mrs. Fischbach smiled.

"Oh... Yeah," You managed a grin to try and assuage your guilt for lying to her.

"Well I made soup, rolls, and-" she was cut off by the clicking of dog claws on linoleum. You'd just spun around to investigate the noise when a massive white dog leaped up on you.

"Lucy no!" Mark shouted as the Great Pyrenees sent you toppling to the floor.

"Big-" you paused to spit some fur out of your mouth, "Fluffy dog." 

Mark was quick to latch onto the dog's collar and pull her off. 

"How did she get out of her crate?" Mark questioned.

"Sorry sorry!" A man walked into the kitchen and quickly took Lucy from Mark.

"Thomas!" 

"Surprise little brother!" The man smiled and gave Mark a warm side hug.

"What are you doing here?" Mark seemed somewhat bewildered.

"And miss meeting your lovely better half? I think not."

"Oh, my goodness right!" Mark spun on his heel and stretched his arm around your back to pull you foreword. "Thomas, this is (Y/N), (Y/N) this is my brother Thomas." Mark seemed almost ecstatic about the two of you meeting. 

"He's talked you up quite a bit," Thomas laughed, extending a hand which you happily accepted.

"Hopefully not too much," You laughed.

"Sorry to interrupt but boys could you please go put the dogs outside? And (Y/N) could you help me set the table?" Mrs. Fischbach jumped in.

"Oh right, of course!"

***

Dinner was wonderful. Mark's family got along so well and welcomed you so openly into their home, you really felt like they wanted you here. On a more delicious note, his mom's cooking exceeded every expectation and left you wanting more even after your first few servings. Post meal, you'd helped to clear the dishes off of the table, and gathered around for a card game.

"So this is called Hearts, and the point of the game is to stick the person you hate the most with the Queen of hearts." Mark had explained simply.

"There's more to the game than that." Thomas had tried to butt in but Mark wasn't having it.

"I mean there's also this thing with signals but that's not important, just make sure you stick Thomas with the heart at all costs." He'd continued.

Needless to say, you were slightly confused for the first portion of the game, but Mark had done more than his fair share of cheating to make sure that you'd at least beat Thomas. Towards the end, you'd actually started to get the hang of it, and ended up coming in second, only falling behind Mark's mom. Turns out, it was pretty easy to beat the Fischbach brothers because they spent all of their time trying to beat each other and failed to notice when someone else was beating them. 

"At least I beat you." Mark had smirked at Thomas as he put the cards away.

"I let you win so you wouldn't look bad I front of (Y/N)" 

"Sure you did." Mark had jeered playfully.

"Boys boys, we all got our butts handed to us by your Mom, so I'd hardly call this a win for either of you." You'd chimed in, patting your man-child on the back as you stood up from your seat. "Thanks again for dinner," You nodded a thanks to Mrs. Fischbach who smiled brightly at you and offered a gleeful "You're welcome sweetie, anytime"

"I'm gonna head to bed," You'd smiled rubbing Mark's shoulder softly. "Goodnight Thomas, it was nice to meet you." 

"Same to you, be sure to keep this one in line alright?" He'd laughed as you ascended the stairs.

"Will do."

"I'll be up in a second babe!" Mark had hollered up the stairs."

"Okay."

As soon as you were out of earshot, Mark had turned excitedly to his family members.   
"What do you guys think of her?" 

"She's great, don't screw this up," Thomas ruffled Mark's hair a bit despite Mark being taller. 

"Why are you guys so concerned about me screwing this up? I don't intend to screw anything up."

"You know, you asked me for help picking out a ring, but I still don't see anything on her finger." His mom added.

"I wanna wait for the right moment." 

"Well don't wait too long kid, that's how you screwed up with Catherine." Thomas reminded.

"Yeah yeah I know..."

"I didn't like Catherine anyway. She was rude and too loud." His mom sighed.

"You only disliked her because she didn't like your dogs." Thomas laughed.

"Everybody loves dogs, she was unnatural!"

"Well (Y/N) loves dogs so you're fine." Mark laughed, his face was quick to still though as he remembered his brother's words. "How long do you think I should wait?"

"Do you love her?" Thomas asked.

"Absolutely!"

"Does she love you?"

"I think so..."

"Can you see yourself spending the rest of your life with her?"

"Without a doubt."

"Then don't wait. Don't give yourself the opportunity to mess things up again. You've got an amazing girl, don't let her get away."

Mark paused to think his next words through. "You really think I should go for it?"

"Absolutely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited to to write the next chapters you have no idea. In fact, this whole story was written to lead up to my ideas for the next chapters ^.* Lot's of cat and mouse esc fun coming up.
> 
> I don't know why, but I've had an impossible time trying to characterize Momiplier, hopefully I've managed to stay somewhat true to what we've seen of her.
> 
> As always, your comments and kudos make my day so every single one is appreciated :) 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!  
> X Ace


	18. *Cinnamon Eyes*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3,500 words of 
> 
> a. fluff  
> b. smut  
> •c. all of the above•

You weren't sure at what point you'd fallen asleep last night, or at what point Mark had come in, but when eventually the sunlight flooded through your window, you found yourself to be comfortably nestled in his arms. Rolling over to face him, you couldn't help but admire his sleepy face. He was relaxed, his mouth parted slightly to let him breath through the early morning stuffiness that came with spring allergies. Slowly, your eyes drifted down to admire the muscular curve of his shoulder, and the small bit of peach fuzz that was dusted over his upper arm. He was so beautiful, and he was all yours. 

Eyes still feeling somewhat heavy, you turned around again and wriggled a bit until his warm hands were positioned over your stomach. You were gonna kill someone if these cramps got any worse. 

A few minutes later you felt his fingers twitch, stretching out a bit before running slowly up your sides and to his face where he rubbed at his cheeks, pulling a faint scratching sound from his stubble. 

"Good morning," You whispered, rolling back over to face him again. His eyes were barely open, but the second you'd rolled over, the corners of his mouth had tugged up into a grin. 

"Good morning beautiful," He smiled, voice still weighed down and sticking to itself from sleep. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," you replied casually, pressing in closer to absorb some more of his warmth.

"You're like a cat," He mused as he draped an arm back over you to keep you close to him. "What do you want to do today my lil kitten?"

"Kitten, that's new, lil domineering too." You snickered. 

"I didn't mean it like that!"

"What, you don't want me to be your sex Kitten?" You glanced up at him, eyes as wide as you could manage.

"That's enough of that," He laughed, sheepishly pressing his palm over your eyes and pushing you back so that he could stand up. 

You couldn't help but note his little friend standing at full attention. "Morning wood?"

"Something like that," he huffed, excusing himself to the bathroom. 

Laughing quietly to yourself, you stood up, changing out of his sweats and into something more presentable. Eventually, Mark came back in, hair wet, towel wrapped loosely around his waist. 

"Did you have a good shower?"

"It was a bit cold," he laughed quietly, wrapping his arms around you to give you a hug.

"Mark you're all wet!" You attempted to shove him away but he refused to budge, instead shaking his head like a dog to cover you in little water droplets. 

"Revenge," he chuckled, kissing your forehead and stepping away to his suitcase.

"I think you prancing in here with nothing but that towel on was revenge enough."

"What, is my bare chest distracting for you?" He questioned almost innocently. 

"What? Me? Distracted by your body of sculpted thunder?" You gave a dismissive laugh as you walked towards him. "For the record though," you whispered in his ear, "We're gonna have to take care of all this...tension... when we get home." He shuddered as you stepped back, meeting his excited eyes before ripping away his towel and walking towards the door.

“Wait, what just-" He began to complain.

"Get dressed Mark," and with that, you headed out to the kitchen to see if his Mom was up yet. 

The second you’d closed the door, Mark flicked the lock and picked up his phone to make a call.

“Hey, Thomas, did you get it set up yet?”

“Yep, everything’s in place,”

“Thanks, I really appreciate it.”

“I know, I’m kinda the best.” Thomas laughed.

“Sure, the best, see you later,”

“Good luck Mr. Romance”

***

“Aww my goodness, he’s so cute.” You giggled, pointing to a spot in the album.

“What are you two doing?” Mark questioned, popping his head into the living room.

“You were taking so long to get ready I asked (Y/N) if she wanted to see some old pictures." His mom beamed.

"Oh no, nonono how far have you gotten into the album?" He questioned, rushing over and snatching the book out of your laps. Daring to glance down at the page, he released a sigh of relief.

"Woah, what didn't I get to see?"

"Absolutely nothing, you saw everything that there is to see." He affirmed, stuffing the album into the old wooden shelf. You however, were quick to reach around him and latch onto the leather binding. 

"No," he scolded, gripping your shirt and pulling you back into him.

The sudden backwards movement startled you into dropping the book on the ground. With a slap, it flew open, face up on a photo of little Mark in a pink princess dress.

"Oh, my God, aww are you wearing a Princess Peach costume?" You giggled, picking up the album to look closer.

"Nope," a firm arm reached over you and plucked it from your hands.

"Mark, don't lie, I didn't raise a liar," His mom scolded, walking over and taking back the book. Flipping back to the page, she turned to you with a smile on her face. "He loved that princess when he was little, so we let him dress up as it for Halloween one year." She explained happily. 

"Aww, that's so cute," you turned to a very disgruntled Mark and pinched one of his cheeks. "My little princess," you cooed.

"You know, I was gonna take you somewhere fun today but now, I'm not so sure."

"No wait! I wanna go!" You exclaimed, quickly letting go of his cheek. His frown instantly morphed into an amused smile and he wrapped both arms around you to pull you to his chest. 

"You, are absolutely adorable," he grinned, kissing the top of your head.

"Well you two have fun, I've got some errands to run," his mom excused herself with a happy nod.

With a smile, he glanced down at you. "You ready to go?"

"Where are we going?"

"I dunno, I suppose that's for me to know, and you to find out."

***

"You are the world's worst driver!" You shrieked, a giggle hidden in your fear.

"I'm an amazing driver, what are you talking about?" He shouted back over the roar of his brother's convertible. 

When at last the car slowed to a stop, your hair was wind blown and your cheeks red from laughter. 

"How did you sway your brother into giving you his car for the weekend?" You questioned as Mark hopped over the door and ran around to your side. 

"I told him it was for a special occasion," He replied dismissively. He wasn't lying, but he definitely was not ready to disclose the full truth yet. 

You hadn't really been paying attention to your surroundings, so when you stepped out of the car and heard a soft crunch under your shoe, you were more or less surprised. Mark's rough around the edges hand slipped into yours as you took in the beautiful sights of the park. A small green play set to your right, soccer fields and a dog park in the distance, and directly in front of you, a flower petal trail leading into the woods. 

"Welcome to Miami Meadows," He smiled softly and squeezed your hand.

"Did you put these here?" You questioned, stooping down to pick up a flower petal.

"I may have,"

"You're too much." You snickered, leaning up to kiss the corner of his mouth.

"This isn't even the surprise though!" Mark chuckled, pulling you along the path and into the woods.

You were sure you would never be able to get over the way his hand felt wrapped around yours. It was always warm, his soft palms a stark contrast to the calluses on his fingertips. 

"I feel like Little Red Riding hood right now," You snickered.

"Does that make me the big bad wolf?"

"Only if you're leading me to my doom."

"Not quite," he laughed in return, slowing to a stop as you left the cover of the trees.

Stretching across the land in front of you was a milky blue lake, the other side just barely visible in the distance. 

"This is beautiful!" You gasped, your free arm wrapping around his stomach in a half hug.

"I used to come out here with my brother all the time." He smiled softly, kissing the top of your head in a swell of overwhelming affection. "We still have a little bit further to go," he added, gesturing down the bank.

Obediently, you followed along, tripping once and nearly tumbling into the lake. Luckily, Mark had a firm hold on you. After a few minutes of walking, you came to a small blue row boat, half in the water, with a woven picnic basket balancing on one of the seats. 

"M'lady," he smiled, adjusting his hold on your hand and gesturing to the boat. 

"Captain," You giggled, tipping a fake hat and taking a seat. Carefully, he stepped in with one foot, pushing off of the bank with the other and then quickly taking a seat. You couldn't help but notice the tension in his biceps as he maneuvered the paddles. "This is amazing Mark... Thank you." You smiled softly, looking away from the water to drown in his eyes.

"I'm glad you like it, I wasn't sure how you would feel about my little dinghy." He chuckled at the word.

"You're so childish,"

"I am not, I was simply referring to this small boat that we're in."

"Then why didn't you just call it a small boat?"

"Well as a proper seaman, I felt that I should use nautical terms."

This time is was your turn to giggle. "So what you're saying is that you're a seaman and this is your little dinghy?" 

"Yes, I'm a seaman in a dinghy."

"Glad we cleared that up," You replied, trying your best to keep a straight face. 

You stared at him, he stared at you, neither of you wanted to be the first one to laugh. However, the tension was building in your cheeks and eventually, you couldn't hold it in any longer. Both of you erupted in a roaring laughter, terrifying the the nearby ducks. 

"I can't believe you used the word dinghy!" You cackled, wiping a stray tear from the corner of your eye.

"I can't believe you let me!" His laughter was booming.

"We're actual children," Your breathing had began to settle, and you were all the more thankful for your waterproof mascara. 

"Those words are gonna be even more insightful once you look into that picnic basket."

Cocking an eyebrow, you reached foreword and took a peek. Nestled into the basket were pb&j's cut into little triangles, an assortment of juice boxes, goldfish crackers, and a rainbow of ice pops pressed against an ice pack. 

"Wow, taking me back to preschool here fish," You snickered.

"I thought you might appreciate my culinary creations," He replied with a giddy smile. 

Once he had decidedly made it to the perfect spot in the middle of the lake, he let go of the oars and began pulling things out of the basket.

"Do you want grape, apple, or fruit punch?" He questioned. 

"I'm feeling appley," 

He chuckled to himself as he passed you your selection. 

Your meal was had in a peaceful flow of conversation. You didn't talk about anything important really, just telling stories. Your face would become animated as you recalled the details and he would watch you contently, his head falling slightly to the side as if he was leaning into every word you said. Eventually, the basket had been emptied, and you asked if he was ready to paddle back.

"In a moment," He murmured, standing up to fish something out of his back pocket. It was clearly giving him some trouble whatever it was, and you couldn't help but giggle until he gave an exceptionally hefty tug and a black box of some sort went sailing out of his hands and into the lake. His jaw dropped in something akin to horror, and before you could even ask him what it was, he had leaped over the side of the boat and into the water. 

"Mark, what on earth?" You questioned as the water splashed up against your face. But he was already too far below the surface to hear you. About 40 seconds later, he came back up for air.

"What did you drop?"

His face paled for a moment as he thought up a logical reason. "My phone," he stammered, for obvious reasons not wanting to reveal that it had been a ring box.

"You sure? It didn't look like a phone."

"It was moving pretty quickly through the air so, yeah it might not have looked like a phone."

And like that, he was back under the surface. Another minute under and he was back up again, a cheerful grin on his face.

"I found it!" 

"It probably has loads of water damage though," you snickered. 

His face dropped as he came to the realization. He hadn't dropped his phone in the lake, but he had jumped in with it in his pocket.

"Fuck!" He screeched, stuffing the ring box in his pocket and draping his arms over the side of the boat in exhaustion.

"Sorry babe, we can swing by the Apple store and grab you a new one though." You giggled, leaning over to kiss his dripping nose. 

"Yeah... But I don't think I've backed my phone up in a solid month."

"Oh Mark," you sighed. "Come on and get in the boat doofus."

He nodded and began to pull himself back up, unfortunately, the second he did so, the boat began to tip. 

"Woah woah woah, you're gonna throw me into the water too!"

"Well then what do we do?"

You glanced around, to assess the situation. You were out in the very middle, too far for you to paddle back if you had to drag him behind you. A few yards away, there was a stump sticking out of the water though. 

"I've got an idea, swim over to that stump, I'll meet you there."

He seemed to catch onto your plan fairly quickly, almost to where you could see the lightbulb behind his eyes as he kicked off. Taking up the oars, you pushed the boat along. 

"Look at you sailor!" Mark laughed, climbing up the stump and sitting on top of it.

"I'm so ship shape you can't even handle it." You smirked, rowing up next to him. You were still a few feet away though due to the lily pads that were surrounding the stump.

"Okay, so I'm gonna jump into the boat, you ready?"

"Yep!"

You should have said no. He leaped in with so much energy that he sent the boat rocking the other direction and you both fell out and into the water.

"Fuck it!"

***

Eventually, you'd both managed to get into the boat and row back to shore. What could have been a miserable experience however ended up being lots of fun. The whole way was spent making wet dog jokes and placing bets on who had backed up their phone most recently. It had ended up being you, to which Mark was not pleased with. There had been a decent amount of whispered swears and playfully menacing looks exchanged at the Apple Store, and when you were finally done there and had your phone's back good as new, you then made your way back to his mother's house. 

"Look who's finally back!" His mom had a gleeful look on her face, her eyes fixed intently on your hands for reasons beyond you. When you'd waved at her, her face dropped, and you were almost concerned that she was unhappy to see you. 

"What happened?" She questioned, more to Mark than to you. His face lit up a nice shade of crimson as he fished for a reply. 

"We uh, fell into the lake," he explained shortly.

"No no, you dropped your phone into the lake, dove in after it, and then knocked me in while you were trying to get back on the boat." You corrected with a small laugh.

"Son, you're so clumsy," his mom sighed seemingly disappointed in him. 

"I'm gonna go wash the lake water off of me," You smiled sheepishly, not entirely sure what was going on between Mark and his mom, but happy to have a reason to escape the silent tension. 

They both watched you as you entered the bathroom, their heads snapping to face each other as you closed door.

"What happened to proposing?" She questioned.

"I dropped the box in the water... and I didn't want to give her a soggy ring." 

"Oh Mark," she sighed, giving him a reassuring hug despite her disappointment. 

"Sorry," he murmured.

"It's okay, there's always tomorrow." She smiled, patting his back. "But today, you need to follow (Y/N)'s lead and take a shower, you smell like a fish."

"Will do," he laughed, heading down the hallway and grabbing his clothes from his room. He could hear the shower already running in the bathroom, hardly resisting the urge to join you. 

"Mark, I'm gonna go out to the store, do you want any snacks?" His mom questioned, from just outside his door. 

"No thanks, I think we're good," 

"Alrighty, I'll be back in about an hour then." She affirmed. Mark waited for the click of the front door before stripping off all of his clothes and poking his head out into the hallway. No one. 

A smirk took over his face as he quietly dashed across the hall and snuck into the bathroom.

You weren't even aware of his plan until the sensation of warm skin pressed up against your back.

"Well hello there," You murmured, spinning to face him. 

He looked glorious, cinnamon eyes, tanned skin, hair matted back by the steady stream of water. 

One of his hands flew down to your back to pull you again his chest "You have no idea how crazy you make me," he growled into your ear. Sucking the skin of your neck into his mouth, he was quick to leave a mark before peppering his lips all the way down your shoulders. 

"What brought this on?" You giggled softly, pulling his head up to meet your lips. The tenderness of this kiss was a stark contrast to the bruises he'd left on your neck.

"Honestly," He murmured between kisses, "I kinda have a thing for shower sex." His callused fingers dug into your skin, making you shudder.

You could feel him between your legs, just waiting for your permission.

"Mark, I'm still on my-" you tried to warn him.

"Sweetie, I really don't care," He whispered, hardly containing himself. With an internalized laugh, you wiggled against him to give him the go ahead. Just like that, he was inside you, burying himself as deep as he could manage with one thrust.

The abruptness caught you off guard and sent a moan spilling out of your mouth. Likewise, his head had fallen against your shoulder, muffling the expletives that he was groaning into your neck.

After the initial heat had passed, he was quick to move, dragging against your walls and hitting deep with every upwards movement. 

"Mark," you stuttered. You could feel yourself slipping, the continuous pleasure weakening your legs.

"I've gotcha," he murmured, pressing you up against the tile wall and wrapping your legs around his waist. This new position was hot as hell, your clitoris dragging against wet skin with every thrust. His eyes lit up with determination as he unraveled you. Every time, changing his angle until eventually, he hit the spot that made you sputter a string of curses and moans. 

"You're so beautiful baby," He panted, his thrusts becoming more erratic as he came closer to his finish. 

"Fuc- kiss me." You whimpered, looking down into his sex blown eyes. He was hardly coherent at this point, but he was glad to crash his lips into yours. The sloppy kiss was all it took to tip you over the edge. You were putty in his arms, shaking and shuddering around him. "Mark," You stammered, wave after wave of pleasure rolling through your core and down to your toes.

Likewise , the vibrating and contracting of your walls were more than enough to make Mark see stars. His legs growing weak as orgasm wracked through him. 

"Fuck, (Y/N), fuck!" He spewed those and others as he slowly fell to his knees in absolute pleasure. 

"I love you, oh God I love you," he panted, kissing you softly, again and again until you couldn't feel your lips anymore. 

When the high began to settle and he finally became coherent enough to pull out, you were weak and tired.

"I love you," you whispered, leaning into the strength and security that he was. 

"I love you too...more than you can even imagine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay between chapters, still I hope you enjoyed :) I just reached 500 kudos so my mind is exceedingly blown right now! Thank you all so much for sticking with me!
> 
> On the note of the story, it's a bummer that Mark's proposal didn't work out, I guess he'll have to try again later. *wink wonk*
> 
> In the mean time, if you enjoyed the chapter and wanna tell me what you liked, what you wanna see more of, or what you don't want to see, your comments are greatly appreciated. :) 
> 
> Have a lovely day!  
> X Ace


	19. Just Like The First Time We Met

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark gets a second try at proposing.

In a way, you had been sad to leave Cincinnati. Mark's family welcomed you like one of their own, and there was a constant feeling of security there. 

At the same time, you were quite happy to be back home in your own space. 

"Mm, soft and fluffy." You sighed, head burrowed into Chica's fur.

Okay, if you were being honest you were really just happy to be back with Chica. 

"I still think you love her more than you love me." Mark chuckled, walking into the bedroom where the two of you were cuddling.

"What can I say, we were meant for each other." You smirked, giving her little wet nose a kiss. 

"Well if you can manage to pry yourself away from your soulmate for a few hours, we have a dinner reservation at 8."

"Really?" 

"Yeah, put on your favorite dress and I'll be over here trying to remember how to tie a bow tie."

"Just google it,"

"You don't think I've already tried that?"

"Well, did you?"

"...no... I'll be right back." And with an audible sigh, he was out the door. 

***

You know the stereotype where the girlfriend takes 5 hours to get ready, leaving her guy to wait in 'agony'. You could only wish that the stereotype were true. Instead, here you were, ready to go while Mark was still up in the bathroom trying to figure out his bow tie situation. It was a solid 15 minutes after you'd finished that you heard an excited shriek from upstairs, signaling Mark's success.

"(Y/N)! I fucking did it!" Mark came dashing down the stairs, stopping short at the bottom to point enthusiastically at the semi crooked, black silk bow tie. 

"Good job," you snickered, walking over to pat him on the back. 

"Thank you, and wow wow wow do you look absolutely remarkable." He wrapped an arm around your waist and kissed your cheek.

"You clean up quite nice yourself Mr. Dapper." Head to toe he was dressed in a perfectly tailored suit that hugged all the right places. 

"I gotta try and look nice for my girlfriend or she might realize that she's way out of me league." 

"Oh, you have a girlfriend? Do I know her?"

He deadpanned at you, eyebrows eventually making their way into a playful scowl. "Yeah, she's short and annoying like you." 

"Oh I'm the short one?"

"I mean, you're dating me, the self proclaimed shortest man on YouTube, and I still have to lean down to kiss you."

"You know what?"

"What?"

"I was hoping to be able to think of a witty comeback in the time it took you to say what." Your smile dropped.

"Dork,"

"Nerd," you retorted, flicking his temple. 

"Ah," he winced, quickly changing his expression into a mischievous snarl. "You'd better run,"

"Mark! I'm wearing heels!" But never the less, you took off for the door. Before you could even get it open, he'd flung you over his shoulder and was carrying you down the walkway. "Put me down doofus!" You giggled, pounding at his back.

"Your punches are so light it's like a massage," 

"If you don't put me down, I will bite you!"

"How erotic of you,"

"Mark!"

***

Eventually, you'd both made it to the restaurant in one piece. You'd smoothed out your dress and Mark had straightened his bow tie as best he could. Now, you were sipping champagne in a restaurant that was way to fancy for the two of you. 

"Which fork do I use again?" Mark had mumbled under his breath.

"The little one?" You weren't exactly sure yourself, but you reached for your best guess and happily enjoyed your meal. 

"Hey what's going on over there?" Mark asked suddenly, pointing in the direction of the kitchen. As soon as your head was turned, he made his move and dropped a diamond studded ring into your champagne glass. 

"What are you talking about?" You questioned, turning back to face him and narrowing your eyes curiously.

"Sorry nothing nothing, I thought I saw a cat."

"In a restaurant?"

"Yeah," his lips had curled into an awkward pucker as he darted his eyes around the room in search of a conversation shifter. "I propose a toast." He smiled, eyes settling on the champagne glasses.

"What to?"

"To you, my beautiful," he smiled, raising his glass to meet yours. However, he mis-measured the force of his cheers, and as soon as your glasses clinked, your's was knocked out of your hand, and into your lap.

"Fuck, sorry!" He stammered, jumping to his feet and rushing around the table to you. 

"It's just like the first time we met," you giggled, standing up and ruffling his hair. 

"Oh no you're right!" He gasped as crimson took over his face.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom to blot some of this off, I'll be right back."

"Okay," he sighed. As soon as you were through the bathroom doors, he was down on the floor, patting around.

"Excuse me sir, it's alright I'll clean it up for you," a waiter reassured.

"No it's not that, I put a ring into my girlfriend's glass and then it spilled and I don't know where the ring is!" He explained, knowing he didn't have much time until you would be back.

The waiter quickly began assisting in the hunt, but just as Mark had predicted, you were were back out fairly quickly.

"What are you doing?" You questioned, glancing down at the two men who were combing through the carpet. 

Mark smiled as his hand made contact with the ring. Quickly scooping it into his hand, he jumped to his feet and sent you a nervous smile. "This uh, fine gentleman, lost his earring." He stammered as the waiter stood up.

"Ah, yes, and I found it, thank you for helping me look." The waiter mumbled, noting Mark discreetly slip the ring into his pocket. Eager to leave the situation, the waiter nodded politely and walked off.

"You're so kind, always helping out those around you. How did I get so lucky?" You beamed, kissing his cheek before sitting down. 

"I uh, I dunno." Mark didn't even have a witty comeback, he was just relieved to have found the ring before you did. That definitely wouldn't have been a part of his perfect proposal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOOPS. I've been gone nearly a month and this is all I give you? My sincerest apologies, life has been kicking my butt, and I'm just now starting to get over the slump. 
> 
> I'm going to try my very best to post another, longer chapter this weekend, but I cannot promise anything. 
> 
> Hopefully you enjoyed this none the less :)
> 
> Xx Ace


	20. Dibs on Spider-Man!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A convention, more failed proposal attempts, and a special YouTube friend comes to visit *wink wink*

Mark. Was. Done. 6 different occasions now he'd tried to propose. On a boat, at a restaurant, at a restaurant on a boat, in a park, at the aquarium, and at the peak of his desperation, he'd hired a sky writer. Every time, something got in the way and he was beginning to have doubts. Was some supernatural force trying to keep them from making things officially official? He was almost willing to believe that. 

There was a convention coming up this weekend and he really wanted you to be able to show of your ring then, but it was beginning to look unlikely. Maybe, the problem was over planning. Every time he set up something elaborate, it was the intricacies of the plan itself that ruined things. Maybe, he just needed to slow down and be honest. Suddenly determined, he stood up, and made his way into the kitchen. He'd stuffed the ring box under a pile of clothes on the counter last night when you had gotten home from a shoot early and caught him off guard. 

The second he'd stepped foot in the kitchen though, he face paled. The clothes were gone.

"(Y/N)!" He shouted, panic in his voice. 

"What's wrong?" You questioned, bounding down the stairs.

"What happened to the clothes that were on the counter?" He asked, spinning around to face you.

"They're in the mail... remember, I told you I was doing a style exchange collab with Marzia."

"Oh God." 

"What?"

"Nothing nothing, I need to go make a phone call though." 

"Are you okay?"

"Fine, I'm fine." His wavering voice didn't have you convinced but you elected to let it go for now.

Mark was quick to hide out in his recording room and call up Felix.

"Hello?"

"Oh my God I need your help."

"What's up? Are you okay?" 

"Yes? (Y/N) accidentally shipped her engagement ring to Marzia along with all of the clothes she was sending her."

"Dude, you two are engaged? Congrats."

"No see that's the problem, I keep trying and failing at proposing, and I was gonna do it before the convention this weekend but I kinda don't have the ring anymore because again, (Y/N) mailed it to Marzia."

"Why?"

"She didn't know that she was okay? Anyway, you're gonna be at PAX this weekend right?"

"Yeah."

"Awesome, if the package comes in time, could you please bring it to PAX with you?"

"Sure thing,"

"Thank you... I think I need to go do some damage control now because I left (Y/N) hanging as to why I freaked out over her shipping some clothes."

***

After Mark's curious case of panic, you'd decided to wait him out in the living room until he was ready to come down and talk it out. You weren't sure what had him so spazzed out, but you'd learned that when he got into a mood, it was best to let him sort out his thoughts and come to you. Speak of the handsome devil, here he was now, leaping down the stairs.

"(Y/N), I'm sorry for freaking out, I just..." Mark had a small epiphany... did he really need a ring to propose? "You know what," he wrapped his hands around your waist and pulled you closer. "I love you, I absolutely adore you, and I don't think I could even begin to imagine a world without you."

His speech was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Oh come on." Mark grumbled.

"Stop being so antisocial Mr. grumpy pants." You giggled, excited by the fact that you knew who was at the door and Mark didn't. 

"Come on in!" You shouted, kissing Mark's cheek and wiggling out of his grasp.

"Wait you know who it is?"

The door flew open and an ecstatic Irish boy stood leaning against the frame. "Sup bitches!" He beamed, running in and pulling you both into a hug. 

"Sean! I thought you were getting here on Thursday." Mark laughed, a bit miffed about the timing, but happy to see his friend.

"You've been so stressed out lately, I thought he might be able to cheer you up!" You smiled, kissing Mark's cheek and extracting yourself from the hug.

"I'm not stressed," Mark defended.

"Sure you aren't," You snickered." Sean are you hungry? I know that don't serve anything good on airplanes." 

"You read my mind!"

"Cool, I'm gonna go get changed and then we can all go get something." You smiled, bounding up the stairs.

Jack waited until you were safely out of earshot before snickering "I don't see a ring on her finger, did the sky writer not workout either?"

"No! No it didn't! And on top of that, now Felix has the ring!"

"Why the fuck does Felix have it?"

"Because I stupidly hid it in some clothes that (Y/N) was sending to Marzia."

Jack couldn't help the laughter that slipped out. "Oh boy, you really fucked yourself with this one," he giggled, wiping a few bubbly tears from the corners of his eyes.

"Yeah, and I was going to drop all of my elaborate planning and just propose to her without a ring, but then you walked in!"

"Well pardon me for interrupting your, what is it the 6th time you were trying to propose to her?" He snickered.

"Seventh." Mark sighed

"Oh boy...is Felix gonna send it back to you soon?"

"He doesn't even have it yet. If it comes in the mail before his flight for the con then he's gonna bring it, but even if he does, it'll be too late by then."

"Says who?"

Mark could practically see the gears in Jack's head turning. "What are you getting at?" He questioned.

"(Y/N)'s gonna be on the Markiplier and friends panel this year right?"

"Right..."

"And Felix is gonna have you the ring by then right?"

"Probably... I still don't see where you're going with this"

"Geeezus you're so slow! Propose to her at the panel like Wade did!"

"I feel like that's not very creative of me..."

"Well it's better than proposing to her in your living room."

"True true... but what if she says no? In front of all those people!"

"If you managed to get her to live with your messy ass, then I think you can get her to marry you."

"Ready to go guys?" You questioned, bounding down the stairs and grabbing the keys off of the mantle.

"Hellz yeah, I want the greasiest cheeseburger that American money can buy!" Jack snickered.

After that, the rest of the week was a blast. Sean was loads of fun to hang out with, and he'd definitely managed to pull Mark out of his anxious mindset. You still were left to wonder though, what was Mark so anxious about?

***

"We're heere!" Mark sing-songed as he pulled the car up to the valet of the hotel that Pax put all of its creators in.

"Took long enough, how do you guys stand the traffic out here?" Jack grumbled, climbing out of the car and grabbing his bags from the back.

"We don't ever leave the house," You responded simply, a chuckle coming from Mark at your comment. 

"You laugh, but you know it's true."

"Unfortunately," He grinned, pulling you into his side and walking through the hotel doors.

"Any word from Felix yet?" Mark directed his question to Jack.

"Yeah, he said he's got the package and he's gonna be here soon."

"What package?" You asked, taking your room key from the hotel employee and leading the two to the elevators.

"Nothing important, just... dude stuff."

"Dude stuff like shaving cream and condoms, or dude stuff like footballs and sports jerseys?" You giggled.

"I, as a dude who doesn't own a single sports jersey, object to your gender roles." Jack snickered. 

"You need to take a break from Tumblr buddy," Mark chuckled in response.

As the elevator dinged to a stop, the three of you headed towards your adjacent rooms.

"Wanna unpack and meet back up in 20 minutes to go walk the floor?" Mark suggested.

"How do you propose we get away with that without being mauled?" Jack snickered.

"I'll tell you in 20 minutes." Mark reiterated before popping open the door to the room and ushering you in. 

"Wow, this is nice!" You beamed, setting your suitcase on a table and walking over to the window. Happily, you tossed open the blinds and absorbed the view. "Beautiful."

"I can assure you, my view is much more beautiful." Mark smirked, elevator eyes punctuating his statement. 

"Look at you all sprawled out on the bed." You smirked, leaping onto the mattress beside him.

"We've got a whole new bed to defile."

"Gross Mark!"

"What, tell me you don't think having sex on this thing would be great!"

"Yeah but, don't use the word defile!"

"What, too dirty for you?" His eyes had a playful glimmer to them.

"No no, I know that look. Those are your sex eyes, you put those away." You giggled.

"Why?"

"Because Sean is right next door and you told him we'd go walk the floor in 20 minutes."

"That's plenty of time!"

"Maybe for you." You snickered.

"What's that supposed to mean?!?"

"It doesn't mean anything."

"Are you saying I don't last long enough?" His lips had curled into a pout.

"Geez, you and your fragile masculinity."

"No no, I am deeply, deeply offended by your comments." A smile was starting to take over his face.

"Right well, not to change the topic on you Mr. Offended, but how exactly are we going to walk the floor without, as Sean put it, being mauled?"

"Oh right!" Mark scrambled over to his suitcase where he happily extracted three plastic packs.

"What do you have there?"

"Disguises! Dressed as Spider-Man, a ninja, and that one power ranger that no one cares about, we can glide along the floor completely inconspicuous!" 

"Dibs on Spider-Man!" You shrieked, running over and grabbing the appropriate bag. Pulling out the costume, you couldn't help but send Mark a questioning glance. "What, did you get these from the 99 cent store?"

"You wish, I got these bitches from party city!"

"Well then party city needs to step up their game." 

After the two of you had changed into your costumes, you knocked on Jack's door to explain the plan.

"Spider-Man and a Ninja? Nice, what costume do I get?"

Mark grinned behind his mask as he handed Jack the remaining costume.

"Really? The shitty power ranger? I call bullshit."

"That can be your shitty slogan." You giggled.

"Okay, well I'm gonna go suit up into this blue ass berry costume, I'll be out in a sec." 

"Have fun!"

"Yeah yeah ya dickheads."

***

"This is great!" Mark giggled as the three of you made your way through the crowd.

"Keep your voice down, someone might recognize you." You reminded, lacing your gloved fingers in his his.

"This is weird... I don't think Spider-Man ever dated a Ninja in the comics." Jack snickered.

"Oh Spider-Man my beloved web slinger," Mark cooed, swinging your arms back and forth.

"Could your beloved web slinger convince you to give her a piggy back ride?" You questioned hopefully.

"She could." Mark laughed, squatting down a bit so that you could get on his back. 

"Wow guys, way to make me feel like a third wheel." Jack complained.

"Quit your complaining, Signe's gonna get here in a few hours." Mark snickered.

"That's a few more hours that I have to hang out with you knuckleheads."

"Hey, at least these two knuckleheads aren't dressed up as the blue power ranger." You laughed, steering Mark closer to Jack so that you could pat the top of his head.

"And who's fault is that?" He giggled, swatting away your hand. 

"Your's for not being the genius who came up with this plan." Mark quipped.

"Woah, check out the Xbox booth!" You interrupted. 

"Last one there's the blue power ranger!" Mark snickered, taking off in a sprint.

"I already am the blue power ranger!"

***

"Where are you man?" Mark grumbled into the phone.

"My flight got delayed but we're just about to board." Felix explained.

"Just about to- that's what, a 10 hour flight?"

"Calm down, I'm not too thrilled about this either."

"You'll be here before my panel tomorrow right?" Mark glanced around the empty bathroom to ensure his continued privacy. 

"I should be, so long as all goes well."

"Knock on wood." 

"Don't stress yourself, whatever happens happens." 

"7 times Felix. I have failed 7 times. Please don't let this be 8."

"I'll try my best, but in the mean time, stop putting so much pressure on yourself and just let it happen. In the mean time, my flight is boarding, see you soon."

And with that, Felix had hung up the phone.

"There you are, we've been looking everywhere for you." Jack exclaimed as he came into the bathroom.

"I am a mess man." Mark muttered, running his hands through his hair.

"Well stop being a mess and go hang out with your soon to be Fiancé. I've gotta go find Sig, she just got here."

"Where is (Y/N)?"

"Outside the bathroom," Jack sighed, tugging at Mark's sleeve until the two of them were out the door.

As soon as Mark came into view, a wave of relief washed over you.

"You're not dead!" You exclaimed cheerfully.

"Sorry sorry, I had a call to make." Mark explained. In every lie there's a kernel of truth right?

"Right well, I say we head back to the hotel room, maybe order room service?"

"Sounds amazing," Mark sighed, contentedly draping an arm over your shoulders and keeping you close.

"I'll meet back up with you two later." Jack beamed as he ran off to find Signe.

"To the room?"

"To the room!" 

***

The second you'd shut the door behind you and taken off your cheap costumes, you plopped down into Mark's lap, facing him and trying to put on the charm.

"So why have you been so stressed lately?" You questioned, innocently walking your fingers over his chest.

"I don't know... I've just got a lot going on in my head right now," Mark fibbed.

"You wanna let me in on some of your thoughts?" Gently, you draped your arms over his shoulders and nibbled at his earlobe.

"Are you using sex as a tactic to interrogate me?"

"Maybe... is it working?" You cooed, batting your eyes and chewing your lip.

"Not really, all the blood that would usually be helping me think is kinda preoccupied." He admitted, catching your mouth and rolling your bottom lip between his teeth. 

"Maybe that's what I wanted." You met his eyes, a playful glimmer hinting at your plans just long enough to catch him off guard before you ghosted your fingertips over his collarbone and back behind his neck where you knew he was most ticklish.

A deep resonant laugh poured out of him as you watched his previous concerns vanish. This was the laugh you had come to love. It was strong, rolling, and loud, like a train ripping through a silent tunnel. It was warm and mellow, like a chorus of bubbles popping all at once. Most endearingly, it was pure and genuine, his entire personality and life story culminating into waves of joyful sound.

"God, I love your laugh," you grinned, kissing his pretty mouth and darting your hands down to his armpits to coax a laugh out of him and into the kiss.

"God, I love your hands." He giggled, reduced to a playful child at your touch. 

"Do you wanna tell me why you're stressed now?" You questioned, slowing your tickles and letting him breathe.

"I'll tell you tomorrow." He murmured, pulling you into him and inhaling deeply. Your head was nestled in his chest, his arms wrapped firmly around you. You were safe, you were happy, you were at home. Helping Mark could wait until after this nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da! New chapter! It feels good to be back in the swing of things. If this chapter feels a bit non cohesive, that's because it is and I at this moment, cannot be bothered to fix it.
> 
> Hopefully you enjoy this none the less, and if you did, you should leave a kudos or a comment to make me feel like I'm actually doing something with my life xD
> 
> In the mean time, I love you lots,  
> X Ace


	21. Speaking of Honesty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today's the big day! Will Mark's proposal go as planned, or will something else get in his way?

Hotels were the best, especially the classy ones that conventions tended to rent out for their creators and guest speakers. 

Beds like clouds, shower heads that felt like warm rain storms, and best of all, breakfast buffets. You and Mark had to meet up with your friends at 7:30, so the two of you were supposed to get up at 6:00 to go downstairs and eat. Mark however was still out cold long after the alarm went off, and taking pity on him, you elected to go downstairs and bring something back for him.

When you arrived back at the room, Mark was awake, pacing the floor and mumbling into his phone.

"Babe, you okay?"

Spinning on his heel, he placed his hand over the phone speaker and smiled brightly. "Peachy, today is going to be a great day."

"I'm detecting some doubt in your voice," You murmured. 

"Everything's fine, I'm just... trying to help Felix sort something out, his flight got delayed." Mark explained. "I'll call you back bud." Mark whispered before hanging up and directing his attention back to you. "Something smells amazing!" 

"Oh yeah, I went down to breakfast and brought you back some food." 

His eyes lit up as he took the plate from your hands. "You're the best," He beamed, placing a hand on your waist and leaning in for a kiss.

"Woah there buckaroo, you still have rank morning breath," You snickered, kissing his cheek and spinning out of his grasp.

"Wow, rude." He snickered. "We're supposed to meet up with the gang in half an hour to get ready for the panel, I'm gonna go take a quick shower to get rid of my rankness," He glared playfully as you with his last word. "Can you go tell Jack that Felix isn't here yet and to give him a call to ask about timing?"

"Sure," You smiled, a bit confused as to why he was so wrapped up in Felix's flight plan, but happy to help none the less. 

*** 

Gently, you rapped your knuckles against a wood door and a few moments later, it was opened by a cheerful brunette with wide eyes and boxy glasses. 

"(Y/N)!" Signe beamed, "It's so nice to finally meet you in person." You were caught off guard as she pulled you into a quick hug. 

"Yeah, so sorry I missed you yesterday, we were pretty worn out after walking the floor."

"No worries, I was rather tired myself yesterday."

"Sigs, who's at the door?" You heard Jack yell from the distance.

"It's (Y/N)," She shouted back, opening the door for you to come in.

"Hey, (Y/N), where's Mark?" Jack questioned as he shrugged his jacket on.

"Taking a shower, he's been so scatter brained these last few days, I think he would have gone to the panel in his underwear if I weren't here." You giggled, "Speaking of him, he wanted me to ask to you call Felix and find out when he's gonna get here."

"Oh right, I can do that." He beamed.

"Cool, I'll see you guys in a few then!" You smiled, heading back towards the door.

"See you later!" Signe called after you.

"Felix still isn't here with the ring?" She questioned once you had left.

"Apparently not." Jack sighed, pulling out his phone and making the call.

***

30 minutes later, the whole group had gathered in the green room behind the main stage. The Markiplier and friends panel was in one hour, and you were mid think tank session to decide upon what you were gonna do for the panel. The only hitch was, the person this panel was formed around wasn't even here. Mark was just out side making his 6th phone call today to Felix. 

"We could play Simon says," Wade piped up.

"Meh." Was the collective response,

"How about cards against humanity?" He continued

"That one's over done." Bob sighed.

"Well at least I'm trying!"

In a whir of energy, Mark burst back into the room. "Hey (Y/N), can you go get..." Mark trailed off, looking to his friends for help.

"A card game for us to play." "Some silly hats," "Pineapples!" They offered simultaneously. 

"Wade did you fuckin say pineapples?" Jack berated.

"Never mind Wade, we need a card game and some fun hats for the show!" Mark exclaimed, pulling you to your feet and towards the door.

"Mark, we're due for mic check in 20 minutes!" You reminded.

"Then you better go fast!" And with that, he shoved you out the door. What was with him? Regardless, you sped off to try and find the requested items. 

Meanwhile back in the green room, "Felix is en route, but traffic is a bitch so the GPS has him set to arrive a little after we go one stage." Mark explained rapidly.

"So what, we stall for the first few minutes?" Bob asked.

"Something like that." Mark murmured in response, wiping the nervous sweat from his palms onto his jeans.

***

It wasn't easy, but you'd managed to obtain the card game and the hats from various creators at the convention, and make it back in time for mic check. Now, just minutes before the show, you could hear the roar of the crowded auditorium. 

"You ready (Y/N)?" Jack questioned, resting a hand on your nervous shoulder.

"I think so, this is the biggest crowd that I've ever done a panel for." You admitted with a hesitant smile.

"You'll do great, you've got 14 million people out there who adore you. If you just toss out a catch phrase and play up the (Y/N)iplier romance, you can't fail." He chuckled, wrapping an arm around your shoulders for a quick hug of reassurance. 

"You guys ready?" Wade questioned, walking over with Bob. 

"Hellz yeah!" Jack shouted.

"Where's Mark?" 

"Here! I'm here!" Mark panted, bowling into you as he sprinted across the room.

"Well then, looks like the gang's all here, start us up buddy." Bob smiled. 

Your little group made their way to the wings of the stage, Mark giving the sound crew a thumbs up to get your packs turned on. Taking his hand, you gave it a small reassuring squeeze before he took a deep breath, and began his off stage announcements.

"Ladies and dude bros, please put your hands together for the amazing 'and friends' part of our panel!" The chatter of the crowd quickly morphed into a roaring cheer. "First up, the lovable lord of minions, and yes I do mean those dinky yellow guys that you all love to hate, the one and only, Wade minion lover 777!" 

Wade trotted out into the stage, glaring playfully at Mark for his impromptu minions comment. 

"Next, the man who could cure cancer with his laugh, the the impeccable, Bob the wonder Muyskerm!" 

Bob was quick to join Wade on stage, giving the crowd a happy wave before taking his seat on the couch. 

"Coming in at the equivalent weight to a sacka pohtaytos from da mudderland, everyone's least favorite... I mean favorite Irish asshole, Jack potato boy Septiceye!"

"You sound like the prick from the lucky charms commercial!" Jack snickered into his mic as he walked on stage. 

"Thanks buddy I try. Next up, the person who reminded me to put on pants this morning, the beautiful, the annoying, (Y/N) The radical (Y/T/N)!" 

You give Mark's hand one final squeeze before skipping out onto the stage, waving happily and shooting dorky faces at a few of the louder crowd members. "Finally you guys have a girl here to break up this sausage party." You snickered, slapping away Jack's hand as he attempted to flick you.

"Lastly and bestly, the rad dude who's name is on this panel, the handsome, the stunning, the awesome, the charming, the-"

"Would you shut up and get the fuck out here already!" Jack screeched.

"Me!" Mark chuckled as he bounced his way out onto the stage and into the seat next to you on the couch.

"Welcome to the panel, thank you for coming out. I'll go ahead and let you down now because we have absolutely nothing planned." Mark paused to let the fans laugh. "We were all sat backstage trying to figure something out 20 minutes before hand and the best we could come up with was hats, so, I'm sorry you waited for us, you really shouldn't have, but, y'know, since you're here you might as well stay."

"I think honesty might not be the best policy here." Bob chuckled.

"Speaking of honesty, we do actually have a special guest coming today." Wade added.

"We do?" You questioned, confused about the memo you must have missed.

"Goddammit Wade, that was supposed to be a secret." Mark sighed.

"Well no one told me that!" He defended.

"I'm here, I'm-" The off stage voice was cut off by heavy breathing. "I, geezus I need to work out more, but I'm here." The audience grew to a roar as Felix came sprinting across the stage. 

"So that's why you guys have been calling him so much." You sighed, noting Felix as he handed off a brown paper bag to Mark. 

"Right, yes, hello," He paused to wave to everyone. "And goodbye." He laughed, nodding his head and sprinting off of the stage.

"Felix come back!" "We love you!" And "Pooperpie no!" Were just a few of the screams that stood out to you from the crowd.

"Is anyone else as confused as I am?" You questioned, seeing the audience collectively shake their heads in agreement. 

"Oh my God you have no idea how hard this has been to keep from you!" Mark sighed, pulling you up off of the couch and into the center of the stage.

"Are we doing this now?" Jack whispered into the mic.

"Yes, shhhhh." Mark whispered back, pressing a finger to Jack's lips which garnered a loud response from the Septiplier fans.

"He's talking to you guys too!" Jack shouted, glaring at the audience with the mischievous grin on his face.

There was a beat of silence before Bob piped up with, "Mark, you wanna start talking buddy?"

"Where do I even begin?" He stuttered.

"Maybe with that bag that Felix just handed to you?" You prompted with a quizzical grin.

"Right, this! In this sad brown bag, which I'm willing to bet he pulled out of the trash," A pause was given for a chorus of laughter, "Is an item that I have been trying to give you for months. Actual. Months. It has been in the bottom of a lake in Cincinnati, in a glass of champagne from one of LA's most horrifyingly fancy restaurants, baked into a peach pie, and even to London when you accidentally mailed it to Marzia. It has been in the bottom of my sock drawer for almost a year, and in my back pocket for so many dates it's kinda sad. After all this time, the only place it hasn't been, is on your hand." Your eyes grew wide as he pulled a small black box out of the bag and dropped down to one knee. "(Y/N)," his voice shook as he tried to hold himself together over the chorus of excited aww's and cheers.

"I love you so much that even to this day, two years later, I still get these obnoxious butterflies in my stomach every time I hear your laugh. You are my sunlight when I'm stuck inside, and my rainbow when the entire world feels depressing and gloomy. You are my everything, my biggest weakness, and my source of strength." His shaky breaths were warm on the back of your hand, and despite his emotion, his smile was overjoyed and sincere. "When you asked me yesterday why I've been so anxious, it was so hard not to tell you that the reason I've been this way is because I have tried and failed to propose to you seven times. Despite all of that time I've had to practice, here I am still stuttering out my thoughts and falling miserably short at conveying how much I adore you and everything you are. I cannot see a future for myself that doesn't have you in it, and though I cannot promise you the world like I wish I could, I can promise to love you until the world ends. So, if I'm not too crazy, and you think you can handle my loud mouth and cold feet at night, I would be honored, if you would marry me."

By this point in his speech, your brain had shut down and your eyes were drowning in tears. All you could manage was a gleeful nod before dropping down to his level and pulling him in for a kiss. The auditorium was filled with whoops and cheers, but all of the joy swimming in your head was overwhelming the noise. Every movement was fuzzy, Mark's hands on your arm as he helped you stand up, his warm fingers, shaking against your's as he slipped on the ring, the congratulations hugs from your friends as the noise began to die down, and the shock of peace as you found yourself back on the couch, leaning into Mark, dazed by what had just happened. 

"Well I'm pretty sure that Mark and (Y/N) are as good as useless now... anyone have an idea as to how we follow up that?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It finally happened! This is the moment I've been waiting for ^.^ I hope you enjoyed this chapter, because I really enjoyed writing it. 
> 
> If you have any feedback for me, positive or (constructively) negative, feel free to leave it in the comments, I reply to everything :)
> 
> Have a lovely day,  
> x Ace


	22. I Do, Do You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By the power vested in me, I present to you, the next chapter.

"Scooch over, you're hogging up 99% of the bed." You whined, shimmying against Mark to try and make some space.

"That's mathematically impossible, if I were taking up that much space you wouldn't be on the bed right now."

Everything following the proposal had felt a bit like being high. Sounds faded into the background, people blended together, and you were especially focused on shiny things, specifically the one on your finger. You could tell that Mark was feeling the high too, because he hadn't made a single dick joke the entire day and his hand had never left your thigh through the signing. 

Now, at the end of the day, your friends had been gracious enough to leave you two in peace to marvel in each other's joy.

"I love you." He whispered, kissing the back of your head and burrowing his nose into your hair. 

"I don't love your knee up my crotch." You snickered in return.

"What, my knee isn't good enough foreplay?" 

"Mark no, Sean and Signe are right next to  
us, cuddles only."

"But what about proposal sex?"

"Is that even a thing?"

"We could make it a thing." You couldn't see him, but you could tell he was waggling his eyebrows suggestively by the tone of his voice.

"Why break tradition?" You snickered, turning to face him and placing a small kiss on the tip of his squishy little nose. 

"Fine... but since sex is off the table, I no longer feel obligated to contain my demons."

"Your what?" You raised an eyebrow quizzically, trying to decipher the meaning behind his mischievous smile. 

There was a long pause of silence before a small squeaking noise broke it.

"Did you just fart?" You deadpanned.

"Yes, but if you don't lift the covers though, you won't have to smell it." He snickered.

"Dammit, but I'm hot." You fanned yourself dramatically.

"Yeah you are," he chuckled at the double meaning. 

"Mark!"

"Pick your poison."

With a sigh, you sat up. "It can't possibly be that bad." folding back the covers to cool yourself off, you were immediately filled with regret.  
"Oh my God!" Your eyes went wide as you leaped off of the bed to avoid the smell.

"I'm sorry!"

"Geezus man,"

"I don't know why you always underestimate my potential."

"It just doesn't make sense for something that foul to come out of someone that handsome."

"Boys fart too (Y/N)," he snickered. 

"Ah, I see what you did there," you laughed, plopping back down once the smell had settled.

"Commere" He whispered, pulling you into his arms. 

"Mark, you're really hot."

"Why thank you," he grinned.

"No I mean hot like a space heater, or the sun."

"If I were as hot as the sun I think we would have more problems than my stink."

"If you were as hot as the sun I would be dead."

"And wouldn't that just stink."

"God why?" You groaned playfully, pinching his nose and rolling over onto your side to fit yourself against him like a puzzle piece. 

"You love my puns."

"Go to sleep Mark."

"You go to sleep!"

"I'm trying to."

"Oh." He caught the memo, burrowing his nose into you, letting his scruff tickle your skin. His breathing was warm against your neck, his lips occasionally falling against your skin to leave a small mark of adoration. You were starting to fall back into a state of comfort when you heard a soft gurgle from behind you.

"I'm hungry"

"No." you whispered sleepily.

"You wanna get up so I can order us some food? We haven't eaten in like, 6 hours."

"Mmm, I'm comfy." You smirked, rolling over and tucking into him. "I don't feel like moving."

"So we're doing this the hard way huh?" He laughed, sitting up with minimal struggle. 

"Mark nooooo," You complained, clinging onto his torso. As he pulled himself out of bed, you continued holding on, now finding yourself clung onto his back.

"You're like an octopus!" he snickered, walking over to where the room service menu was kept. "What do you want little parasite?" He questioned, looking back at you with a grin.

"Wow, is that any way to treat your new fiancé?" You snickered. 

"I'm sorry would you prefer I not get you any food?" He countered.

"No no no!" You squeaked, looking over his shoulder at the book. "What are you getting?"

"Mmm...Pizza?"

"Yes!" You beamed, kissing his cheek and adjusting the grip of your legs around his waist. "Y'know I really don't understand how you can be so self proclaimed short yet still make me feel like a Nome." 

"You're much cuter than a Nome (Y/N),"

"I would hope so, unless you have some weird Nome fetish you wanna tell me about."

"Gross," He chuckled, pushing you off of his back and dialing the phone.

"You want me to dress up in a pointy red hat and a beard next time we get it on?"

Furrowing his eyebrows in mock disgust, he pressed a finger to your lips. "Hi, this is Mark Fischbach from room 403, I'd like to order room service."

With a stifled smirk, you licked his finger to get it away from your mouth.

"Don't be gross," he mouthed. "Oh yes sir, I'd like to order a Pizza with," He looked down to you requesting your topping choices.

"Fet-a-ish cheese." You giggled. 

Mark, unamused, flicked your temple before turning to face away from you. 

"Ow!"

"Can I get extra cheese on one half and pepperoni on the other."

With an indignant grunt, you climbed back onto his back and secured yourself around his neck. 

"That's all, thank you." Mark finished before hanging up the phone. 

"Pizza!"

"Why am I marrying you again?"

"Because you loooove me," You snickered, kissing his cheek. 

"Mm hmm," he sighed as he walked over to the bed. You could practically hear the evil gears in his brain turning as he glanced back at you before leaping onto his back, squishing you between himself and the mattress. 

"You're killing me!" You croaked, trying to wriggle out from underneath him.

"Is someone talking?"

"I don't know what they taught you in engineering school, but unlike carbon, compressing a girl will not turn her into a diamond!" You squeaked.

"Yeah but maybe I can squeeze some of that sass out of you." He grinned, rolling over so that you were chest to chest. 

"I'll squeeze the sass out of you!" You grumbled, working your hands out from under him to squeeze his butt. He released a low groan at the touch and you couldn't help but giggle. "Are you turned on dear?"

"I've got the most gorgeous woman in the world beneath me and she's groping my butt like a koosh ball. I'm only human."

"A what ball?"

"Nevermind, point being, either something happens, or I'm gonna need to go take a very cold shower." He explained with face that conveyed his clear distaste for the second option.

"Well... as long as you're quiet you moaning myrtle."

"Did you just compare me to the bathroom girl from Harry Potter?"

You grinned affirmatively before grinding your hips up to pull a surprised moan from his mouth. You were quick to silence him with a kiss, chewing at his bottom lip. 

"Since when," he panted, "since when did you become the domineering one?"

"Since now, now roll your cinnamon roll ass off of me." 

He was quick to comply, rolling onto his back to allow you to straddle him. 

"Shirt off." You commanded, shuddering internally at the tone of your own voice.

"You never cease to surprise me." He murmured, fumbling with the buttons before flinging the fabric across the room.

You were quick to run your hands over his torso, eliciting a load moan of approval from Mark.

"If you don't shut your mouth I'm gonna make you go take that shower." You growled into his ear. 

"Mmmmm, please no." He murmured before cupping your cheeks in his hands and pulling you in for another kiss. 

While you traced circles on his chest, he ground up against you, making your heart flutter and sending a radiant shiver down your spine.

Anytime Mark would begin to make a little noise, you would press your lips against his, pacifying him with a messy kiss.

"Mark?"

"Hmm?" He murmured into your mouth.

"Pants off."

***

A few weeks passed and you were home from the convention, back in the privacy of each others company. You'd made a video announcing the engagement to anyone who hadn't paid attention to the happenings of the panel, and so far, you'd had a great response. There were pages upon pages of new (Y/N)iplier fanart depicting the proposal, and so many congratulations posts and tweets you didn't know what to say. 

Outside of the internet, you'd been busy falling into the daydreamy trap of being a bride to be. There were a thousand things that you wanted to plan for your wedding and a million different ideas that friends and family had pitched to you. It was needless to say, starting to spiral out of control, and the stress of trying to run your channel and plan this thing all by yourself was starting to get to you. 

"I don't know if I can handle 6 more months of this," You sighed, leaning into Mark as the latest Marvel movie played in the background. 

"Hey, you're the one who wants the fancy wedding, I'm fine with anything so long as my family's there." He smiled, kissing the top of your head.

"I don't really know if I want the fancy though... Ive always had this idea of the perfect wedding in my head but... what if we just don't?"

"Don't what?" 

"I dunno, don't plan anything elaborate." You pulled yourself up, turning to face him as you sat on your knees.

"Well, if we were to downscale a lot, what would you propose?"

"What if we just go out into the woods somewhere?"

"I think there's a little more to a wedding than that." He chuckled.

"There doesn't have to be! We could fly our families to, I dunno the redwood forest? And just get married!"

"You're crazy." He laughed, squishing your cheeks between his palms. "Luckily, I love crazy."

***

So here you found yourself, amidst the tallest trees on the planet, and still the most breathtaking thing in your eyes was the man standing at the alter. 

Two rows of lovely white benches sat on ether side, of the aisle, shaded by the canopy of leaves 300 feet above you. In these benches sat the people you loved, and who loved you. Your families, your closest friends, and the calming breeze that trickled through the forest.

At the end of the aisle stood the most handsome man you had ever met, beaming with joy and sharing the same overwhelming thoughts as you. This was it, this was the moment that every little girl was supposed to dream about. 

The music played as you slowly waltzed down the path, flowers in hand, silken white dress fluttering behind you. By the time you'd met Mark at the end, you could feel the tears in your eyes.

"Don't cry, you look absolutely beautiful." He whispered, gently brushing his thumb over your cheek. 

"We are gathered together in this beautiful place to share in the joy of (Y/N) and Mark as they exchange their vows of love." The priest began. "Today, you shall feel no rain, for you shall be a shelter for one another. Today, you shall feel no cold, for you shall be the warmth for one another. Today, you shall feel no loneliness, for you shall forever find comfort in each other. Today, you will remain two persons, but begin a life as one."

Looking into Mark's eyes, you saw no fear, no hesitation, no regret, only complete adoration. 

"You may now say the vows that you have prepared."

You took a deep breath, glancing out onto the group before returning your full attention to the man before you.

"Before I met you, I was alone. I was ready to take on the world, yet terrified to actually begin. Then, you tripped your way into my life, goofy, yet irresistibly charming, and somehow, you replaced the fear with excitement. There is no one in any other time or space whom I would rather marry. So on this day, it is with immense love that I take you as my husband, till death do us part." 

You could always tell when Mark was trying not to cry, because his soft brown eyes would turn a glassy cinnamon color and he would tip his head backwards slightly. 

"Don't cry, you look absolutely beautiful," you whispered, pulling a quiet laugh out of him.

He cleared his theist and batted his eyes a few times to blink away the tears before speaking. "Before I met you, I had no plans for my future. I knew I wanted to make the world a better place, but I had no one to push me to do so. When you came in, you cleared the fog from my mind, and you set me back on course. There is no mountain I wouldn't climb, and no galaxy I wouldn't fly to to find even a sliver of the love that you have given me. So it is with every ounce of feeling that I could possibly have, that I take you to be my beautiful bride, till death do us part."

Then, out of his pocket, he pulled two simple circles of metal, precious in not just their make, but their symbolism. 

"I give you this ring as a symbol of my love, and as a promise that I will always be by your side." He beamed, smile full of life as he took your hand in his and slipped on the ring.

"I give you this ring as a symbol of my love, and as a promise that I will always be by your side." You echoed, grasping his shaking hand and slipping the ring over his finger. 

"And now, by the power vested in me by the state of California, I pronounce you husband and wife, you may now kiss the bride."

Just like that, he was leaning into you and you could feel every ounce of love pour out of him at once. All of the joy, the nerves, and the love washed through you, spreading warmth from your lips down through every nerve ending, lighting up your senses and stilling your breath. Regretfully, you both pulled away, smirking bashfully at the other. 

"Friends and family, I now present to you for the first time, Mr. And Mrs. Fischbach."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed that my updates have been very sparse as of late. That is simply because I am losing steam on this story. Worry not, I will not leave this story unfinished, but I warn you that it will be winding down to a close in the next few chapters. That aside - expect lots of fluff and a bit of honeymoon smut in the near future, I'll try to ensure that this story goes out with a bang... figuratively and literally.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated <3
> 
> Thank you for your patience and support, it really does mean a lot.
> 
> X Ace


	23. Merry Fishmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Photoshoots, Overwatch with friends, and Christmas in Cincinnati

It sparkled beneath the studio lights. Your ring, a small object that held so much meaning. "Hey (Y/N), can we get another shot in the trench coat?"  
"Oh sure," You smiled, taking the costume piece from one of the assistants. 

Just a few weeks after the wedding, you'd received an email from Forbes magazine who'd awarded you a place on the 30 under 30 list. On top of this honor, they'd requested your presence in New York to do a photoshoot for the spread. Needless to say, you were beyond yourself with excitement. So with a twinge of regret, you kissed Mark goodbye for the weekend and jetted off across the country. 

Now here you were, under a set of bright studio lights, with a camera in your face and a rack of high end clothing to your right. 

"Alright, on 3 I want you to jump." The photographer instructed. "1 2 3-"

The high school musical jump itself was no problem, it was the bit about landing it in heels that got you. With a squeal and a crash, you landed on the side of the shoe and toppled over, knocking down a trio of lights in the process.

"Oh my goodness I'm so sorry!" You squeaked, jumping to your feet. The moment you were up, a jolt of pain ran through your ankle and you struggled not to wince. 

"It's alright, are you okay?" One of the assistants rushed over to you.

"I'm fine really, did I break anything?" You glanced over at the crew who were resetting the lights. 

"No harm done here, ready to continue?" 

You nodded, gingerly allowing yourself to place some weight on the injured foot. After a few more shots, the pain was beginning to become unbearable, so you were thankful when they provided you with some flats for the next section of photos. 

They'd asked you several times if you were alright, and in hindsight, you probably should have told them, but you were determined to make it through this without causing any more fuss, so you pressed on. You were nearing the end of the shoot when they asked you for one more jump shot. Reluctantly, you poised yourself to jump, and on the count, you leaped into the air. Sure, you stuck the landing this time, but at the expense of your ankle, which was exploding with pain. 

"Right, just a few more shots then?" The photographer asked.

"Actually, I think I'll have to decline." You replied through gritted teeth.

"Oh, alright then." He seemed disappointed, and you instantly felt a bit guilty. This was a mess. You quickly thanked the crew before hobbling back to the dressing room to change and get back to your hotel room as quickly as possible.

***

Earlier in the day, Mark had texted you something about everyone getting on to play overwatch tonight, and truth be told, you'd forgotten until your phone buzzed in your pocket.

MarkleSparkle: Hop on Skype whenever you want to play and I'll add you to the call beautiful :) 

Right right. 

Lady(Y/N): I almost forgot, I'll be on in just a second <3

This was just what you needed to forget about the cringe fest that was today's photoshoot. Quickly opening your laptop, the call rang through almost immediately. Hitting answer, you were soon greeted by 5 smiling faces. 

"(Y/N)!" Jack grinned, Signe giggling at his excitement from beside him.

"How's New York?" Bob questioned.

"Have you had the chance to try some street pizza yet?" Wade added. No, and judging by your ankle you wouldn't be going anywhere that required more than 5 minutes of walking. 

"Geezus you guys, for a moment there I thought she was your wife." Mark chuckled, his smile faltering just a bit seeing the vacancy in your eyes. "How are you doing wonderful?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Good, I'm doing good. The photoshoot was a lot of fun." You shoved the throbbing reminder of your ankle out of your head and mustered a smile. "Now who's ready to play some overwatch?"

"I'm ready if you're ready to get your ass handed you you." Jack shouted.

"The only people who are going to have their asses handed to them are you and Mark." Bob chuckled.

"What?" Your frustrated husband screeched. "I'm the best overwatch player in this Skype call!"

"All the times that (Y/N)'s kicked your ass would beg to differ." Wade snickered.

"Fine, y'know what, I'm gonna prove to you assholes that I'm the best. Game on!" 

***

"Fuckit!" Mark screamed, throwing his headphones off of his head and disappearing from the camera's view.

"Yeah fuck you guys." Jack grumbled along with him. 

"You guys are such sore losers." Signe laughed, patting her boyfriend on the back as he screamed silently into his palms. 

"I'm back. I'm okay. I'm back." Mark slurred, sliding on his headphones and rubbing the anger from his eyes. 

"Best four out of five?" Bob suggested. 

Mark rubbed the anger from his eyes and took a deep breath. "You're on bitchlord."

***

The rest of the time spent gaming was fun, you'd enjoyed your time with friends, and were now looking especially forward to going home tomorrow. 

Eventually the call started to wind down, and one by one you all jumped off, throwing out a "Bye bitches," or a "See ya suckers." As you headed out. It wasn't more than a minute after you'd hopped off that another Skype call rang through. Your smile broadened seeing the name "CaptainBork" spread across the screen along with the profile picture of a smiling butt. Hitting answer, your screen was filled with the smiling face of your husband.

"Hey fish." You smiled, shoving the laptop to the end of the bed, laying down on your stomach, and propping yourself up on your elbows.

"Hey, so what happened today?" His tone was semi serious.

"What do you mean?"

"You were acting weird during the game, what happened today?"

"I'm just sleepy."

"(Y/N), you only laughed at one of my dick jokes. When you're actually tired I only have to tell one dick joke to get you to crack up for an hour." 

"I mean."

"(Y/N)?"

"No biggy, I just screwed up, knocked over  
some studio lights and twisted my ankle."

"Aww babe, did you put some ice on it?"

"Yeah, the swelling's gone down a bit."

"They weren't mad that you knocked over the lights were they?"

"No... I don't think so, they were pretty chill."

"So then why are you upset?"

"I dunno, I acted a bit dickish and left early without any real excuse."

"I don't think you needed an excuse, you sprained your ankle."

"Yeah but, they didn't know that."

"Oh sweetie, you're so stubborn you know that?"

"I'm stubborn? You once sat outside in nothing but your boxers for an hour just to prove a point."

"Okay we're both stubborn, but why didn't you just tell them that you hurt your ankle?"

"I dunno, I didn't want to be a bother." 

"There is no way that I can possibly foresee you being a bother to anyone."

"Hmm, I suppose I need to try harder at annoying you." 

He chuckled, his cheeks lighting up a soft, cheerful red. 

"I'm sure they loved you (Y/N), even if you did hobble off of their set like Golem." 

You smiled despite yourself. "And what makes you think that?"

"Because you're so wonderful, it's impossible for anyone to not love you."

***  
Your months spent together seemed almost to fly by. Every moment spent with Mark was a new adventure. As time passed, snow began to fall on the northern states and holiday lights began popping up on houses like winter fireflies. Soon, you found yourself back in Cincinnati, surrounded again by Mark's wonderful family. 

"Wakey wakey!" A deep voice scurried into your ears and shook you awake.

"Mmmm what time is it?" 

"Christmas time!"

You rubbed at your eyes and glanced over at Mark who was sprawled out in a ridiculous 'sexy' santa costume.

"What on earth are you doing dear?"

"Merry Christmas!"

"I asked Santa for Bluetooth headphones not a ho ho hoe." You giggled.

He bit his lip in an attempt to try and keep a straight face.

"Come on, that was a good one, I guess there's snow getting through to you." 

"It's a good thing you're cute." He snickered, "Because your puns are treediculous."

"Yikes, that was a bad one." You stretched and glanced over at the clock on your nightstand. "It's 6 am, I get that it's Christmas but why are we up so early?" 

"We've got 2 hours until my mom gets up and starts on breakfast."

"And?"

"Well, If you've no objections, I'd like to give you your first present of the day."

You took a moment to run your eyes up and down his body. The material hugged his hips and split in the middle to show off his toned chest. "No objections here... as long as you're quiet."

Excitedly, he leaped up and straddled your lap. "Mums the word."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays lovelies :) Sorry yet again for the distant upload days.
> 
> Prepare yourselves for little Marks and Readers in the next chapter ^.^
> 
> (I didn't take a lot of time editing this chapter because I wanted to get it out on Christmas, so I apologize for any mistakes)
> 
> Xx Ace


	24. Company, fall in!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this final installment, the family finally grows, and your friends are there to share the joy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been over a year, and truth be told I didn’t think I would ever finish this... but you guys have been so sweet, still messaging me to this day to finish and honestly, I’ve read fics for 20 something chapters before without any conclusion so I know the feeling.
> 
> With that being said, please enjoy, the final, once and for all, chapter of Scratch and Sniff Champagne.
> 
> Fair warning, I wanted to finish the story in one chapter so as to not leave you guys hanging again, but I had A LOT of ground to cover to make it work, so with that being said, there are a lot of drastic time skips. Hopefully it still flows well though :) enjoy, more notes at the end

A large hand rubbed gentle circles over your knuckles as you held on tight. The anticipation was killing you both.

Neither of you had planned to be here, in a doctors office, with KY jelly smeared over your rounded stomach and a large monochrome monitor showing the outline of a head, but here you were, and there was no where else you would rather be.

“Well Mr. and Mrs. Fischbach, drum roll please?” The nurse laughed as the two of you patted softly on your thighs.

“It’s a girl.”

“No fucking way!!” Mark squeaked out, covering his mouth immediately. “You didn’t hear a thing little princess.” He whispered, directing his gaze to your belly before turning his gaze back to you. “(Y/N)... holy shit we’re having a little girl.” His smile was the widest you’d seen in a while, and his eyes were glassy with joyful tears.

“Holy shit indeed.” You whispered back, squeezing his hand and holding in your own happy tears.

“Oh my gosh!” He suddenly shouted. “Baby... can we do one of those elaborate gender reveals??” 

***

“I do say good sir, have at thee!” Bob laughed, smacking Sean’s character over the head with a shovel to deal the final blow. 

“Mother fucking shovel fucker!” Sean screeched, throwing down the controller as the live stream comments sped up to congratulate Bob and laugh at everyone else.

The gang had all gathered together for a big live stream. You and Mark hadn’t told anyone why, just that it was important they were all here. The crew of people lounging on the couch consisted of you, Mark, Bob, Wade, Sean, Suzy, and Arin. The OG crew from the night the two of you met as Mark had put it.

“Now that we’re all sufficiently worked up, who’s up for a game of charades?” Mark questioned, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans. 

You two had taken drastic measures to ensure that no one even knew you were pregnant. The sweatshirt you’d been wearing all day was baggy enough to hide the bump, and Mark had been elbowed in the ribs several times for almost giving away the secret.

But now, the moment had finally arrived and you were so ready for everyone to know.

“Okay, I’m gonna go first.” Mark announced, grabbing a hat off of the table and pulling out a slip of paper. It was empty of course, but they didn’t know that. “Hmm, I’m gonna actually need help for this, (Y/N), my dear, would you care to be my lovely assistant?”

You laughed softly at his dramatics and stood up next to him. The live chat was blowing up with excited viewers ready to guess along with the others.

Mark held up five fingers to start.

“Five words.” Arin supplied, as everyone readied themselves to guess.

Mark pointed to the last finger.

“Fifth word.” Wade continued.

Mark began mining fish fins and pursed his lips.

“Fish!” Sean shouted.

Mark gave him the thumbs up, then pointed to his first finger.

“First word.” Suzy piped up.

Mark pointed to you and flashed a dazzling smile that near melted your heart. You knew exactly what he was going for here but damn did he have to be so charming about the whole thing too?

“(Y/N)?” Bob guessed, his expression confused as Mark gave him the thumbs up.

Mark then pointed to his third finger and the room responded with a chorus of “Third word.”

Mark began handing you random objects around the room, and you laughed, seeing how much he was struggling.

“Stuff?” Bob questioned.

“Junk?” Sean quipped and Mark deadpanned at him.

Mark gestured a bit more frantically to your arms and the group rattled off a few more incorrect guesses before he sighed and decided to take a different route. Quickly, he took all of the stuff from you and picked you up. 

You squealed in surprise, toes just barely hovering off of the ground. Something about that didn’t sit right in your stomach, so you quietly whispered a “Please put me down baby.”

“Pick up!”

“Hold.” Arin guessed.

Mark gently set you down, shooting you a quick look of worry and kissing your forehead when you gave him a reassuring smile to continue. He then pointed to Arin.

“Hold?”

Mark nodded and spread his hands apart a bit.

“Held?”

“Holding?” Suzy asked and Mark gestured to her excitedly, knowing that the toughest part was out of the way.

“(Y/N)’s holding blank fish.” Bob said a loud, a bit confused.

Mark triumphantly held four fingers aloft, knowing the reveal was coming in a second.

“Fourth word.”

Mark glanced over into your eyes as he encircled his arms into the universal symbol for baby and rocked them gently.

“Baby?” Wade murmured confused. 

It was as if a lightbulb suddenly turned on in the room, as all at once the crew gasped and in a complete lack of synchronization shouted, “(Y/N)’s holding baby fish?”

“(Y/N) are you pregnant?” Sean all but screamed, leaping up from the couch.

Your smile couldn’t have been wider as Mark pressed a button on his phone and pink confetti fluttered from the ceiling. 

“It’s a girl!” You and Mark exclaimed in unison to the tune of excited whoops and uproarious applause. 

Everyone’s smiles were wide and the comments on the live stream were blowing up faster than you’d ever seen before.

“Ahh!!! Oh my gosh! Suzy shrieked, running over and wrapping you in a hug. “Oh my gosh how did I not notice?” She giggled, feeling your bump through the hug. 

Bob walked over and clapped Mark on the shoulder, laughing lightly. “Out of all of us, I never thought you’d be the first to make a mini person... and yet somehow this also makes the most sense. Congrats Mark.” Bob was beaming with pride at every word.

“Thanks buddy.” Mark had never smiled a more genuine smile before in his life.

***

Since the announcement, the internet had been ablaze with talk of the new baby. You and Mark had vlogged most of the behind the scenes stuff, including the creation of the nursery, which had just been finished and looked absolutely amazing.

“Maaaark, can you bring me a water when you come back?”

Within seconds he was running back into the room, water bottle in hand.

“Sweetie I said when you came back, go finish your soup.” You laughed, taking the bottle from his hand.

“Yeah but you’re more important. You’ve got precious cargo.” He then directed his attention to your belly, his warm hands slowly running over the stretched skin. “Your mommy is the most gorgeous woman in the galaxy, and when you get here, I know you’ll be just as beautiful. No matter who you are, or what you look like, or what your favorite flavor of ice cream is, although if it’s something lame we’re gonna have to have a serious conversation about whether or not you’re a traitor.” He smiled as he had earned the laugh from you that he was looking for.

“Gosh, I love that laugh so much.” His dreamy eyes glanced up as you as he kissed the curve of your stomach. “You’re so special (Y/N).”

You couldn’t help the strong blush that overtook your face.

***

“I eat bugs like you for breakfast what are you prattling on about.” Mark sneered, maneuvering away from Sean’s character and glancing over at the chat for the live stream. 

“No I’m not a bubble blowing bitch baby who’s about to get my ass handed to me, that title goes to Jack the jackass over here.” He retorted back at them playfully.

His phone lit up in his desk and he briefly looked over at it before resuming the game. Suddenly, his eyes went wide as he information processed the rest of the way.

“I’m a bubble blowing bitch baby who’s gotta go, sorry guys, Jack handed my ass to me and I can’t handle the searing defeat, bye!” 

He quickly shut off his computer, sending a text to Sean to explain and re reading the text he’d been sent.

Love of my life: Hey sweetie, water just broke... great timing I know, meet you at the hospital? Bring my go bag Xx

Mark couldn’t believe his eyes. You weren’t due for another week but he wasn’t going to complain, he was about to see his baby. He squeaked audibly, the excitement and nerves getting the better of him as he rushed around trying to grab everything he needed before rushing out the door. 

The rumors of the abrupt steam ending spread like wildfire, and the obvious theory had the internet in an uproar. Baby Fischbach was on the way.

***

“Breathe for me (Y/N),” the nurse reminded. You were squeezing Mark’s hand so hard that if you squeezed any harder you might just break a bone.

“You’re doing great sweetie, just focus on my voice, deep breaths, I’m so fucking proud of you.” Mark was the ultimate cheerleader. He’d taken every single tip from every single book to heart and he was determined to be everything that you needed right now.

“Hey dad, do you want to catch the baby?”

“Do I want to what?” Mark’s eyes lit up.

And that’s how he ended up all scrubbed up, looking at you lovingly as a full head of soft black hair emerged, followed by a burst of screams and cries as the baby slid into his hands.

Your hair was matted down, your forehead was sweaty, and your eyes were barely open, but Mark was looking at you like you were the world.

“(Y/N), we made a human.”

***

The years flew by, and the world had taken quite a liking to little Elsie Fischbach. Now 4 years old, she made plenty of appearances on the vlog channel that you and Mark shared as you documented your crazy, wonderful, life.

Elsie had just started her first week of preschool, and the two of you were beyond proud of her already.

You looked down at your phone as you walked along the sidewalk. Mark picked Elsie up from preschool an hour ago, so they should be home when you got there.

Slowly you opened the door to your home, listening closely as a soft giggle came from the kitchen.

“We’ll show em!” Your daughter laughed excitedly, and you could hear Mark’s deep chuckle as she screamed in delight and came running out of the kitchen and past the front door where you stood. Her head snapped to you as she passed and struggled to slow down.

Mark came out seconds behind her, fingers wiggling, tongue dangling goofily. He too skidded to a stop. “Company, fall in!” He shouted, standing up straight and saluting to you. 

Elsie tripped over her feet a bit before finding her footing and saluting to you as well.

You stifled a laugh, pulling out your camera discreetly to film the scene from your hip. 

“At ease soldiers.” You commanded in the deepest voice you could muster. They both relaxed, looking to each other and giggling. A faint hint of vanilla caught your nose and you kneeled down to eye level with your daughter.

“What have you been up to little lady?” You asked.

“Daddy’s helping me make rebend cupcakes!” She giggled. You glanced up at Mark for a translation and he shrugged, fake innocence written all over his face.

“Rebend cupcakes huh? Can you show me?”

“Uh huh!” Her smile lit up as she bounded into the kitchen with enough energy to power a small city for a year.

Spread out on the kitchen counter were a couple dozen vanilla cupcakes, half of them covered in a bright yellow icing.

“Interesting.” You smiled, glancing over to Mark suspiciously.

“These cupcakes sure do smell good, can I have one?”

Elsie gasped. “No mommy! They’re only for mean people!”

It suddenly hit you. Revenge, not rebend.

“Why did daddy help you make cupcakes for mean people?” You asked her, an amused glare directed in Mark’s direction hiding in your eyes.

“Because they wouldn’t let me play on the slide so we’re gonna give them muster cuppycakes so that they go blah! And spit them out and let me slide with them.” She explained with all the drama and grace of a typical four year old.

“I see, interesting plan daddy.” You furrowed your eyebrows, looking directly at Mark as Elsie skipped off into the other room. “Why are you teaching our four year old how to get revenge on her enemies?” You hissed softly as soon as she was out of earshot.

“She came home from school crying and I asked her if she wanted to make something sweet to cheer her up and she said cupcakes and then I said we’re out of icing and then she informed me of how pretty mustard is and here we are.” Mark shrugged.

You couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous the situation was. “You know we can’t actually send her to class with those right?” 

“Oh I know, why do you think we left half of them plain?” He smiled, grabbing a regular cupcake off of the counter and unwrapping it. 

You couldn’t help your amused smile as Elsie came skipping back into the kitchen, a picture in hand.

“This fell.” She explained matter of factly, and handed you the picture before skipping off again.

It was a photo of you and Mark from the convention when you first met.

“You spilled two flutes of champagne and a glass of red wine on me the day before we took this picture.” You chuckled, pointing it towards him to look at.

He blushed softly, running a hand up and down your spine. “I tricked you into falling in love with me is what I did.”

“You did.” You laughed.

“(Y/N), I love you.” You glanced over at his soft brown eyes, and the even softer heart behind them. This was your person. The one you were spending the rest of your life with, and truly, you were the happiest you’d ever been.

“I love you too.”

and you meant it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to yell at me for being that person who leaves a nearly completed story hanging for over a year.
> 
> Also because I left it hanging for a year I do realize that Mark has moved forward a lot in his life and personally, I don’t watch him as often so I’m not 100% up to date on who he records with so I kept this chapter set in the same time span as all the others :) hopefully that didn’t wig anyone out.
> 
> Anyway, there it is! I hope you enjoyed it and if you did, let me know :) (along side your comment about how much I suck for not updating for over a year)
> 
> Have a wonderful day lovely,  
> Xx Ace


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